RWBY: Templar and Shadow
by Whitethorn23
Summary: Following an interdimensional breach, four friends are trapped in Remnant after the breach is sealed. While they adapt to life in Remnant and work to become huntsmen, they race to unravel a sinister plot to destroy the freedom of every man, woman, and Faunus in the world. But they descend into some dark choices along their quest...
1. Chapter 1

**RWBY: Templar and Shadow**

 **" _Remember that you are an infinite inter-dimensional being having a 4th dimensional dream._ " -DMT**

Chapter 1: Open the skies

Central Square Middle School, New York State

9:00 am

Dante Perez was a young man living New York State and had a reasonably normal life. He always had plenty of friends, some were students in the local High school, and the rest were in Middle school with him. He felt that this life was okay for him, but on one fateful day, that was all going to change...

" Hey, Dante." Dante's girlfriend, Anna, said.

" Hey, babe." Dante responded.

The two of them walked along the hall together, and just before the warning bell went off, the lights all over the school began to flicker on and off, which had everyone surprised entirely. Then, without the slightest sound of warning, the windows nearby them exploded in a violent manner, causing the kids nearby them to scream in pain. They immediately rushed over to help the other kids out, when Dante noticed something out of the ordinary...

" Babe, come look at this." Dante said.

She came over to her boyfriend as he was looking out the broken window, only to become speechless at the sight. There was an enormous, glowing hole in the actual sky, with a column of blue energy surging up into it, and Dante realized that it was over where the high school was...

" I need to go." Dante said, turning away from the Window.

" What?" Anna asked.

" That is right over the high school, I need to see if my friend is okay." Dante said.

" That friend of yours, The Fanfiction writer?" She asked him.

" Yes, Xavier." Dante said.

" Then I'm going with you." She said in a determined tone.

" _Attention students, The Board has officially declared this day to be an emergency half-day, so you will be returned home to be with your families."_ Mr. Penrod, one of the principals said over the P.A.

After those words had been said, every student in the building raced outside to get onboard their buses, some stopping so they could take a video of the massive hole in the sky only to complain about the fact that somebody's video became distorted. But Dante overheard some kid talking about a picture he took of the thing as he proceeded towards his own bus...

" Man, you're crazy." The kid's friend said.

" No, I'm serious, there's another world on the other side of that thing." The kid said.

" What are you talking about?" Dante asked as the kid's friend left.

" There's another world on the other side of that hole in the sky, look." The kid said, showing Dante the picture.

Dante looked to see a clear blue sky inside the enormous hole in the sky, which left him surprised, there was an actual, physical world on the other side of the hole. After he got home, he quickly sat down with his mom, who was watching some kind of breaking news story about what was happening.

" Mom, what the hell is going on?" Dante asked.

" You may want to see this." Dante's mom said, pointing to the T.V.

Dante looked to the T.V and was rendered to the point where he couldn't find the words to speak...

" _We interrupt your regularly scheduled program to bring you this breaking news event, there has been an explosion in the Central Square area, and all residents in the range of the blast radius are hereby asked by the state government to evacuate immediately. It has been confirmed that the local high school has been destroyed, and all students are unaccounted for but all staff have been confirmed killed. Governor Cuomo has officially declared a state of emergency for the entire region and is requesting all civilians to either stay in their homes or to move either north or south of the anomaly. "_ The Reporter on the news said.

Dante wanted to speak, but he couldn't find the appropriate words to say about this matter, as he was consumed by the fear of the possibility of his most closest friend being dead, killed in the blast. He was contacted by Anna, and she too was mortified by what had been said on the news. But neither of them didn't know where the Breach had taken the others...

Aletian Forward Camp, Vale Outskirts.

9:00 am

Xavier woke up next to his friend Blaze in a cell at the forward camp the Aletian Military had established in response to the Breach. He was dressed in the old army jacket he used as a winter coat, dark blue jeans, his worn-down sneakers, while his buddy blaze was wearing his grey hoodie and scarf, lighter blue jeans and his sneakers. They were chained to the floor with Aletian robots pointing their guns at them, and an angry General Ironwood barging into the Room with Ozpin and Goodwitch in tow...

" What's going on, why are we here?" Xavier asked.

" I could ask you the same thing." Ironwood said.

" I'm sorry?" Xavier said.

" First, there is a physical breach in the fabric of Reality, and we now have over 300 children with no idea how they got here." Ironwood said.

" What are you talking about?" Blaze said as he started to come to.

" I know you both must be confused right now." Goodwitch said.

" You're right, we have no idea what you are talking about." Xavier said.

" Maybe it's best we show you." Ozpin said.

" Oz, that may not be such a good idea." Ironwood said.

" James, they clearly have some kind of amnesia that has caused them to lose their memory of everything that lead up to this moment." Ozpin said.

" But people are actually assuming that they are responsible, I can't guarantee that they'll be safe." Ironwood said.

" So you bring your robots with us." Ozpin said as Goodwitch unlocked the chains that held them to the floor.

She helped the boys up and they had immediately walked out of the building, out into the cold air of the environment. They looked up into the sky to see the massive breach, as the clouds swirled around it, and it covered the sun...

" That is what James was trying to explain to you." Ozpin said.

" It's currently been dubbed " The Breach" and it has been our number one concern." Goodwitch said.

" Returning you kids back to your world and sealing it has been our number one Priority." Ironwood stated.

Xavier began to feel a burning sensation in his left hand, so he looked down to see a cross form on his hand, which attracted the teacher's attention...

" Are you alright?" Goodwitch asked.

" How did this get here?" Xavier asked. " It must have gotten here when-" Xavier said before zoning out.

" When what?" Ozpin asked.

" When I, tried to stop that maniac who tried to destroy our school." Xavier said.

" Maniac?" Ironwood asked.

" I've remembered, there was some crazy guy trying to destroy our school using some strange cross." Xavier said.

" Why does your friend have a scarf over his mouth?" Ozpin asked.

" He has respiratory issues if he is out in the cold too long." Xavier said.

" Oh, I see." Ozpin said.

They were on the way to the gate when two bickering kids were arguing and one kid hurtled a fireball that the other boy easily evaded, and now the fireball was hurtling towards Xavier, but the most strangest thing to happen was that the fireball mysteriously extinguished itself before it hit him.

" How did you do that?" Blaze asked.

" That I do not know." Xavier responded.

" Did you just use a semblance?" Goodwitch said.

" I have a semblance now?" Xavier said in a shocked tone.

" Then, your semblance means you can cancel out any hostile semblance." Ozpin figured.

" Can we replicate the same method to close the Breach?" Ironwood said.

" Are you asking me to save your world?" Xavier said.

" How did?" Ironwood said in a shocked tone.

" Lucky guess." Xavier said.

" Can we focus on getting to the advanced camp?" Goodwitch said.

They pressed onto the advanced camp, crossing paths with a group of soldiers on a bridge to their goal, when Blaze noticed something flying towards the bridge and realized it was a piece of debris...

" LOOK OUT!" Blaze screamed, entrapping his friend, himself, and the adults in a shadowy veil.

They fell off the busted bridge and his and Xavier's cuffs dropped to the ground in which they saw a pack of Beowolves approaching them quick...

" Stay behind us, boys." Ozpin said, drawing his weapon.

While the teachers drew their weapons and attacked the advancing Grimm, while Xavier and blaze saw another pack approaching them, causing them to think and ask themselves " What do we do?" . They looked around to see if they can find something to defend themselves from the Grimm. Xavier found a shotgun with plenty of shells from one of the crates the soldiers were standing near before they were killed, and Blaze found a sword that had belonged to one of the deceased soldiers. They defended themselves with Xavier blasting off the heads of the Grimm that had approached him, while Blaze cut down the other Grimm that approached him. After they were all dead, Ironwood and the others turned their weapons on the boys...

" Disarm, now!" Ironwood said.

" Okay, I'll go with your methods, but you have to wrestle that sword from Blaze because he'll put up a fight." Xavier said.

" Wait." Ozpin said.

" Oz?" Ironwood asked.

" We barely held our own back there James, maybe it'll be best that they defend themselves." Ozpin explained.

" He has a point James, let them carry the weapons." Goodwitch said.

" Fine." Ironwood said, though he disagreed with the idea.

They fought their way through the valley, and ended up crossing paths with two young girls fighting off a group of Grimm that would have hit the advanced camp. They immediately helped them drive them back, so Ozpin walked over and talked to them as they were catching a breather...

" You kids alright?" Ozpin asked.

" We're okay professor, but the advanced camp has got Grimm advancing on their perimeter." Yang said.

" We were on our way back when those ones hit us." Ruby said.

" Who are they?" Blake asked.

" I'm Xavier, and the sword-wielding fellow beside me is Blaze." Xavier said.

" I'm Ruby, and this is my sister Yang." Ruby explained.

" Nice to meet you guys." Blaze said.

" Pleased to meet you." Xavier said.

" The camp's not far from here, you guys can follow us." Yang said to his teachers.

" Okay then, let's mooove out!" Ruby said.

They pressed on towards the advanced camp so they could discuss a plan of action to deal with the Breach, and they ended up hearing the sound of someone strumming a guitar. They turned a corner and they saw Xavier's closest friend Alexander Drought, strumming a guitar, but it was sending out sonic-like waves of energy that was sending Grimm flying back. They also saw Blaze's brother Zach firing a sawed off shotgun at the Grimm...

" ZACH!" Blaze screamed.

" Blaze?!" Zach exclaimed.

" Hang on, we're coming!" Blaze shouted.

They raced towards them with great haste and helped his brother and friend out, and Blaze immediately ran up and hugged his brother after the fighting was done...

" I'm glad that you're alright." Blaze said.

" I'm thinking the exact same thing." Zach said.

" What are you kids doing out here?" Ironwood asked.

" We volunteered to help out, found these weapons in an abandoned hut just further down the river." Zach explained.

" I got the schematics to this thing, so I'm hoping to build one of my own someday." Alex said.

" Way's clear, open the gates, General Ironwood's here." A soldier in a makeshift tower shouted.

The Gates opened and they were now in the advanced camp, where the 300 students from the school explosion were, all shaken up and traumatized from the event. Xavier regrouped with his other friends, then proceeded to meet with the others in the command tent.

" Do we have an exact location of where the Breach is originating, Operative Schnee?" Ironwood asked Winter.

" It appears to be emanating from these ruins, and it appears to be controlled by a strange sphere." Winter said, showing him on the holographic map.

" Is there anything else?" Goodwitch asked.

" There is a strange cross symbol on its surface, our intelligence agents think it's some kind of key we need to seal it." Winter said.

" I might have guess at what it is." Xavier said.

" Really?" Winter said.

" Yeah, could it be this thing that's on my left hand?" Xavier asked, showing them the mark.

The group was left speechless at what they had seen, finding out that the key they had needed to shut the breach was on Xavier's left hand. They immediately knew now that Xavier was the only one who could close the Breach now, but he knew what that meant. If the Breach was to be closed...

HE HAD TO STAY BEHIND.

 **This concludes the first chapter to _RWBY: Templar and Shadow,_ a story in which four friends (2 who are brothers) are trapped in Remnant after they send the majority of their friends and fellow classmates back through a breach in the fabric of a dimensional barrier that had separated Earth from Remnant. After sealing it, they must adapt to civilian life in the city of Vale, but resort to dark and dangerous methods to take down a sinister plot that threatens all of the world. The next chapter is when the breach is sealed, leaving the four boys with no home or family to return to, and a choice that will change their world forever. Sit back, relax, and enjoy _Templar and Shadow_ as it continues to unfold...**

 **ENJOY.**


	2. Chapter 2: Plugging the hole

Chapter 2: Plugging the hole in the sky.

Aletian army advanced camp, Vale outskirts

9:20 am

Xavier had just revealed to Ironwood and his associates his theory that the cross on his left hand may be the key in sealing the Breach for good, but only he knew the price to pay...

" Are you sure?" Ironwood asked.

" Yeah, they match." Xavier said, raising his left hand to compare the two crosses.

" Then, that means you're too important to lose." Goodwitch said.

" We need to get you to those ruins, and quickly." Ozpin said.

" But what about the kids here?" How are they going to get back?" Blaze asked.

" I can answer that." Winter said.

" What have you learned, Winter?" Ozpin asked.

" As it turns out, that long column of energy, has a twin on their side of the Breach, in which the kids can ride it over." Winter said.

" They can use it as a bridge to get back to their world." Goodwitch said.

" Exactly." Winter said.

" But how are we going to move over 300 kids to the ruins?" Ozpin asked.

" We'll have to move them through the valley, but the Grimm will all over that area soon." Ironwood said.

" Is there an alternative route that the Grimm haven't seized yet?" Blaze asked.

" Our scouts have confirmed an old mining route in the mountains, but its too small to move a crowd that big." Winter said.

" Can't you guys just fly them there?" Xavier asked.

" No, our airships' systems would scramble and cause them to fail, or they may get dragged into the Breach." Ironwood said.

" So we're stuck." Xavier said in an annoyed tone.

" Not quite." Blaze said.

" What are you suggesting Blaze?" Xavier asked.

" How much people can that mining trail hold?" Blaze asked Winter.

" About maybe 10-150 people, it basically runs through some old ruins with corridors that can move groups not of the scale we got." Winter said.

" So we split the kids into two groups, we'll lead one group through the mountain path, you take the second group through the valley." Blaze said.

" We can get some armored transports to protect the other 150." Ozpin said.

" So we have a plan?" Ironwood said.

" Yes, we do." Xavier said.

Ozpin was good to his word, as over a dozen armored vehicles arrived to transport the 150 students Ironwood was tasked to protect. The second group proceeded to the mountains, lead by Xavier and Blaze, and before they entered the mines, Xavier had to say something to the group...

" Listen up everyone, this place isn't as widespread so we can move freely, so stay together, and warn somebody if some has gone missing." Xavier said to everyone.

" Got it." The Group responded.

Everyone maneuvered their way through the tunnels, watching out for ledges, even hearing the fighting further down the mountain. They exited the mine to see Team RWBY waiting for them, feeling relieved that they made it out with zero losses.

" All right, you guys made it." Ruby said.

" Yeah, and all people are accounted for." Xavier said.

" How were things down in the valley?" Blaze asked.

" Ironwood's soldiers took some losses, but all the kids are safe. So you just have to pop back over to your world and seal the breach." Ruby said, before taking notice of Xavier's concerned look, Yang noticed it too.

" But I'm guessing that's not true is it?" Yang said as she walked over.

" No, it isn't." Xavier said.

" Whoa, what are you talking about?" Blaze said, starting to take notice.

" The source of the Breach, is an artifact here in Remnant." Xavier said.

" What? Then in order for you seal the breach..." Blaze said, starting to sound concerned.

" You've got to stay here." Yang said.

Blaze was shocked, the only way for the breach to be sealed had to involve his best friend who has been like family to him staying behind in Remnant to seal it. Alex and Zach overheard this, and they too, were rendered speechless by what he said.

" You've got to stay behind?" Alex asked.

" For the first time in my life, I am conflicted about something." Zach said.

" Why the hell do you have to do that?" Alex said, starting to sound angry.

" If I had the chance to close it on our side, I would take that chance." Xavier said.

" We can discuss this later, but right now, Ironwood and the others are waiting." Yang said.

They immediately proceeded down the mountain, still upset over the fact Xavier has to stay behind in order for the breach to be closed. When they had gotten to the ruins, Ironwood had already set up a perimeter with his forces, and the last kid was sent through.

" Xavier, we have to do this now, otherwise it's going to be uncontrollable." Goodwitch said.

" Alright." Xavier said in response.

Xavier entered the ruins and placed his hand on the sphere, in which a bright beam of Energy launched from it and into the breach. But when Xavier looked through the dust, he saw his three associates still standing there.

" Guys, what the hell are you doing?" Xavier said, sounding annoyed.

" We're staying here with you." Blaze said.

" But what about your families?" Xavier said.

" Why can we go back to them if someone who's been like family to us stays here?" Alex said.

They argued for a while, until they were taken back to the Aletian forward camp and the leadership there discussed what was going to be done with them. They had discovered that the man on their former side, was responsible for opening the breach as he manipulated the key's power improperly, causing the breach to open. Now, they had four young boys with nowhere to go...

" What shall we do with them?" Ozpin asked.

" These young men just gave up the chance to go back to their families." Goodwitch said in a concerned tone.

" It takes guts to do something like that." Ironwood said.

" It does, but now, they don't even have a home to go back to." Goodwitch said.

" So what do we do?" Ironwood said.

" I might have a suggestion." A voice said from the shadows.

The group turned around to see Qrow step out, flask in hand as usual. But he had a look on his face that meant he did have some helpful input...

" What do you have to say, Qrow?" Ozpin said.

" I have a friend in the city who has a pretty big place to herself, and has been looking to share it with someone." Qrow said.

" So, you'll think she's gonna be a good legal guardian to four random teens, two who are actually brothers, that are from another dimension?" Goodwitch said.

" Saves her a lot of lien on trying to buy baby products." Qrow said with a chuckle.

" Arrange a meeting, we'll discuss the matter then." Ozpin said.

" Sure, I'll even throw in an enrollment at Signal since their school had been blown up." Qrow said.

" How did you find out?" Ironwood asked.

" Eh, I overheard Winter talking with a guard." Qrow said.

The following day, Ozpin and a group of legal advocates met to discuss the boys with Qrow's friend, who turned out to be Administrator Kendra Saunders of the Aurelius Technologies corporation. After a long discussion, she was made the boys' legal guardian, and before they left the building for the visit to her place, Zach looked out of the corner of his eye, and he saw the one person he had never expected to see again: Dante Perez.

Dante's place, Brewerton, NY.

10:30 am.

Dante woke on the floor of his room with his mom standing over him, horrified after what had just happened to him. Dante had walked into a physical tear in the fabric of reality, and had come out unconscious for almost two hours.

" Mom?" Dante said.

" Dante! Oh thank god you're alright." She said in a relieved tone. " What happened?" She asked.

" I...I saw my friends in the world on the other side of the Breach." Dante said in a surprised tone.

" How? The Breach has been closed for a while now." Dante's mom said.

" What?" Dante exclaimed.

" Yes, all of the kids came back, including your ex-girlfriend, Alexis." She said.

" Not all of them." Dante said in a saddened tone.

" What do you mean?" She asked.

" My friends Xavier and Zach, they stayed behind alongside his brother and a friend of theirs." Dante said.

" Oh my god." She said.

" Yeah, but I'm still wondering why I was able to see inside that thing, and then come out unscathed." Dante said in a shocked tone.

Dante's mom was even curious to the fact her oldest son had journeyed into a tear in the fabric of reality, and came out of it unscathed. She then remembered a friend of hers who was an expert on Interdimensional theology...

" I don't know about how you were able to do that, but I know who might." Dante's mom said.

" Really?" Dante asked.

" She's a British researchist, she'll be coming here at the UN's request to study the aftermath of the Breach." She explained.

" So she'll understand why I am able to do this?" Dante asked.

" Probably, her name's Wallace, Sandra Wallace." She said.

" How did you meet this person?" Dante inquired.

" Met her at a conference." His mom simply responded.

" Where will she be?" He asked.

" At her field office in Fort Drum in two days." She said.

" Arrange a meeting." Dante said.

" I will, because we will both have serious questions for her." She said.

They had both agreed on one major thing: Dante having the chance to enter the tear and come out unscathed isn't normal at all...

 **This concludes the second chapter for Templar and Shadow, in which the four boys get assigned their own Legal guardian and Dante has discovered that he has the ability to enter dimensional tears and come out unscathed, so they have plans to meet with a British researcher on the matter. The next chapter picks up with the meeting, and surrounds the boys during their first day at Signal academy, and they each develop their own weapons and discover some new tricks they have...**

 **WAIT AND SEE.**


	3. Chapter 3: Birth of a Team

Chapter 3: Birth of a team

Signal Academy, Vale

Weapon Construction Room

10:00 am

A couple of months since the Breach's closing.

It had only been since Xavier had closed the Breach using the cross on his left hand, and the boys had already had skyrocketing grades ever since they had begun their enrollment in Signal Academy, thanks to Qrow. They each seemed to have dominated certain fields of combat, Xavier had proved to be a master at two-handed weapon combat and an expert strategist, Blaze proved to be a expert stealth artist and master at dual weapon combat, Zach manipulated sounds to his advantage in combat and proven to be a scientific savant, and Alex was also proven to be a sound manipulation master and even utilized his guitar skills into a weapon. They each also developed their own style of combat gear, Xavier had armored his military jacket and even wore a set of greaves and boots while wearing an helmet with rising angelic wings, Blaze dressed himself in a ninja-style garb, Zach dressed in a steam-punk style musician's uniform, while Alex wore an armored black leather jacket and denim pants with black boots. They were in the weapon construction room so they could assemble their own weapons...

" Hey Xavier, Do you think I should go with the Microfusion Breeder for my weapon?" Alex asked.

" Yeah, Microfusion Breeder means you won't have to constantly swap out ammo in a fight." Xavier said.

" Okay, I'll go with that." Alex said.

" What are you kids building?" Qrow asked as he entered the room.

" We basically designing our own weapons." Zach said.

" Can I get your opinion on my schematic?" Alex asked him.

" Sure, Kid." Qrow responded.

Qrow walked over to Alex, looking his holographic 3-D design of his planned weapon, _Hyperion's Wave._ It appear to be an electric guitar mixed with a high-powered laser rifle, in which Qrow seemed curious into Alex's idea...

" It looks like a guitar mixed with some kind of rifle." Qrow said.

" A laser rifle, I had gotten the idea awhile ago." Alex said.

" So what are you planning to do so it can actually fire?" Qrow asked.

" Xavier recommended the Microfusion Breeder to give it the ability to fire." Alex said.

" Ah Microfusion Breeders, just don't the power exertion to high otherwise it'll burn out easily after two shots." Qrow recommended.

He was walking by Zach's station when he saw the weapon he was designing, which made him stop and think...

" Are you making a microphone?" Qrow asked.

" No, I'm making a microphone combined with a sawed-off shotgun." Zach said.

" Interesting." Qrow said.

" I'm calling it _Maddening Strife._ " Zach explained.

" What inspired you to make this?" Qrow asked.

" I listened to a song one day, and then as I was singing it, I was sounding exactly like the lead singer." Zach explained.

" So you can mimic the lead singer's voice?" Qrow asked.

" Pretty much, yeah." Zach said.

" So, what are you two boys making?" Qrow asked Xavier and Blaze asked.

" I'm making dual semi-automatic pistols with a Uzi function and are also katanas." Blaze said.

" Nice, do they have names?" Qrow inquired.

" Yeah, the one that'll be in my right hand will be _Crimson Dawn,_ while its twin is _Scarlet Wind,_ and together, they go by the name _Scarlet Summers._ " Blaze explained.

" A set of twin blades, nice." Qrow said.

" I'm making a rapid-fire shotgun that transforms into an axe." Xavier explained.

" Full-auto, what about pump action?" Qrow asked him.

" Pump action has a firing delay since you have to pump the darn thing in order fire again." Xavier said.

" Okay then, and its name?" Qrow asked.

" _Eternal Judgment._ The reason why is that an eternity is how long the person fighting me will be questioning their judgment." Xavier explained.

" Nice one." Qrow said.

He took note of each of the boys' uniquely designed weapons, and then exited the room to leave them to be assembled. After the weapons were assembled, they proceeded to their combat training in which they were able to impress their teachers and dominate over their opponents. After the class, they were approached by Professor Ozpin...

" Hello, boys." Ozpin said.

" Hello Professor, what ever happened to that General fellow?" Zach asked.

" James was only here in Vale to aid us in dealing with the Breach, but he'll be back soon enough." Ozpin explained.

" Why is that?" Xavier asked.

" I'd like to inform you that the Vytal Festival is coming around soon, so students will be coming from all over." Ozpin said.

" What's the Vytal festival?" Blaze asked.

" A seasonal celebration that comes around every few years, but that is not why I came to speak with you four." Ozpin said.

" What is it, sir?" Alex asked.

" I've been hearing good things from Qrow, about how you four are at the top of your class in only four months, impressive." Ozpin explained.

" Yeah, we've had theories about that." Xavier said.

" Oh?" Ozpin said in a curious tone.

" Well, we think that the energy that the breach was emitting is why we are so smart, strong, and why we can heal faster even when our aura is down." Zach said.

" So, you believe it has altered each of you?" Ozpin asked.

" Pretty much." Xavier said.

" I see." Ozpin said.

" Aside from the weird conversation that sounds like it belongs in a science fiction movie, what did you want to speak to us about?" Zach said.

" I wanted to talk to you four about graduating from Signal early and entering Beacon Academy." Ozpin said.

" Wait what?" Alex said in a shocked tone.

" I'm surprised by your reactions." Ozpin said.

" We've only been in this school a couple of months and you are already deciding to bump us to the next level." Blaze said in a surprised tone.

" You have done so much here, all of your teachers recommended it, even Qrow." Ozpin said.

" Really?" Blaze said.

" I'll need is your response, so it can be official." Ozpin said.

" Could you give us a moment?" Zach asked.

" Of course, this is a big mile stone." Ozpin said.

The four young boys huddled to immediately discuss the news that had been just dropped on their platter. After a little discussion, they immediately turned back to Ozpin...

" We've talked, and we're in." Blaze said.

"Excellent, I'll make the preparations to see about getting you stocked with much needed school supplies." Ozpin said.

" Thank you sir." They all said.

After their talk, Ozpin left Signal and returned to Beacon to discuss the much needed preparations for the boys to move. Xavier went to the Library to do some reading, when he bumped into a hooded individual carrying a large grey book.

" Oh, sorry." Xavier said.

" That's alright, I've been look for you actually." The individual said, with Xavier noticing they were a girl.

" Really? You've been looking for me?" Xavier said in a confused tone.

" Do you know anything about the cross you bear on your left hand?" The girl asked.

" Well, I know it managed to seal the Breach, but...that's all I got." Xavier explained.

" Look through this, it will help you do so much more with it." The girl said before disappearing.

Xavier sat down at a table and began to look over the book, which had been named The Aurelion's Codex. It contained passages on rites and abilities the mark carried, such as rites that would allow him to tap into people's minds and see their memories, and the ability to create a "mind-shield" in the shape of the cross on his hand. There was also a passage on using the mark to alter time and space itself...

" Wow, what the hell is on my hand?" Xavier said.

He picked up the book and left, without knowing Dante was watching him from the balcony above before he returned to his bedroom back in his world, with Anna waiting on his bed...

" So, how has he been?" She asked.

" It's only been a couple of months in that world." Dante said.

" When it's only been a couple of days here." Anna said.

" He and the guys have been students at Signal Academy." Dante explained.

" So they're still attending school even after theirs blew up." Anna said jokingly.

" Yeah, well they just got bumped up to Beacon Academy, which is a much larger school." Dante said.

" It's the most prestigious school in all of Remnant, how did they get in?" Anna asked.

" Looks like they became total badasses in just a few months" Dante figured.

" I see, anything else?" Anna asked.

" Well, they seem to have been altered by the breach's energy." Dante stated.

" How so?" Anna inquired.

" Xavier's super strong and basically has the strategic mind of a veteran army general, Blaze is like some kind of shadow ninja with superhuman senses, Zach is a tech wiz with the ability to copy someone's voice, and Alex is basically a guitarist with superhuman abilities." Dante said.

" They've definitely been altered somehow by the energy of the Breach." Anna said, agreeing with her boyfriend.

" One more thing, Xavier's got some cross-shaped mark on his left hand that apparently has powers of its own." Dante added.

" How did you know that?" She asked him.

" I just saw some cute girl wearing a hood give it to him." Dante said.

" Hey?!" Anna exclaimed.

" She ain't anything on you, babe." Dante said in his own defense.

" _You got that right_." She said to herself.

" Anyway, I managed to even find out that they have built their own weapons." Dante said.

" Really, they got their own weapons?" Anna asked.

" Yeah, Xavier has a giant shotgun that can turn into an axe, Blaze has these two semi-automatic pistols that can turn into Uzis and Katanas, Alex has something called a " Hyper-sound Guitar" that's also a laser rifle." Dante said.

" What about that kid Zach?" She asked.

" Yeah, his weapon's kind of weird." Dante said.

" How is your own friend's weapon weird?" Anna asked in a disbelieving tone.

" It's a microphone that's also a sawed-off shotgun." Dante said.

" Oh." Anna responded.

" Yeah, now you know why I said its weird." Dante said.

" Anyway, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact you can walk through that thing and not be harmed." Anna said.

" Yeah, my mom says she's got a friend from England who's an expert on this sort of stuff." Dante said.

" You mean Dr. Wallace?" Anna said.

" Yeah, her." Dante said.

" She's the foremost expert on interdimensional stuff since she has been investigating these rifts for the UN." Anna said.

" How do you know about her?" Dante asked in a confused tone.

" She was mentioned in a news article online." Anna said.

" Well, I hope she has answers." Dante said.

" Let's hope so." Anna said.

Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Dante's mom, who said Sandra was going to arrive in a few days. Dante hoped this woman might have answers to why this was happening, and why he walked through the tear and came out undamaged?

 **This concludes Chapter 3, as the four trapped in Remnant are about to be moved into Beacon Academy, without knowing Dante has been observing them throughout the course of their time thanks to a tear in the fabric of reality. If you noticed there's a difference between time on Earth and time in Remnant, a couple of days on Earth could equal a couple of months in Remnant. This is only my theory, so don't judge. The next chapter involves their start at Beacon academy, and the start of a rivalry between their team XBAZ, or "XBazooka" (with a silent X at the start) and Cinder's team. But along the way, Zach learns their dirty little secret...**

 **WAIT AND SEE.**


	4. Chapter 4: XBAZ vs CMEN

Chapter 4: XBAZ vs. CMEN (Criminals)

Beacon Academy Transport Station.

11:01 am

The boys had just at Beacon Academy's transport hub following their acceptance to the large huntsmen and huntress school. They were arriving alongside a group of new students at Beacon, among them was Ruby and Yang, so they decided to talk to them.

" Hey guys." Xavier said.

" Xavier, Blaze, nice to see you." Yang said.

" What are you guys doing on this airship?" Ruby asked.

" Ozpin thought we were impressive, so he bumped us up early." Alex said.

" Really?" Yang asked.

" Yeah, we were surprised ourselves." Zach said.

" That's awesome, at least Ruby will now know more people than just me." Yang said.

" Hey!" Ruby said, smacking her big sister's shoulder.

" Relax kid, we're all in the same boat." Blaze said.

" True." Xavier said.

The airship docked at the transport hub with a deep rumble, and all the kids piled off and proceeded to the amphitheater to discuss the plans for the year. Xavier and his friends took Ruby and another student (Jaune) to the amphitheater when they had gotten lost. Xavier immediately felt this was going to be a good year...

 _Weeks later..._

Beacon Academy, Combat Class

10:01 am

The Vytal Festival was in full swing as exchange students had started arriving from all over Remnant, and received lessons in Beacon Academy all the way until the festival's end. Xavier became the leader of Team XBAZ, or XBazooka (with a silent X at the start of the name) and they were sitting in combat class watching Pyrrah hold her own against Team CRDL...

" Alright class, that concludes this part of the lesson." Goodwitch said. " Now, who would like to volunteer for the next example?" She asked.

" I'll go." Xavier said.

" Excellent, who will be your opponent?" Goodwitch asked.

" I think... I'll take on Mercury Black since he's been sending me that smug look." Xavier said.

Mercury stood up and looked to his partner, Emerald, saying to her that he's "Gonna wipe the floor with the big tree" then turning to Xavier...

" I accept, you big tree." Mercury said.

" Good, now will you both enter the arena and take your positions." Goodwitch ordered.

" Yes ma'am." Xavier said, putting on his helmet.

They stood on both sides of the arena, taking their combat positions, while Xavier was quickly piecing together a stratagem in his head to take Mercury down...

" _My source of victory is strength, opponent's is speed. I utilize heavy strikes in my assault, he utilizes swift and fast strikes, so this must be executed properly and efficiently. First, block first attack with cross shield, then evade low strike. Second, trick opponent into going airborne, then deploy explosive cross below, finish off with strike to the abdomen and incapacitation."_ Xavier thought.

Goodwitch signaled the practice match to start, and Xavier launched his attack plan into action. Mercury struck first, but Xavier was able to deflect it with the "cross-shield" as he started to call it, so he struck low at Xavier's size 15 feet, but he jumped into the air while drawing _Eternal Judgment._ Xavier countered his strikes, then he fired a modified shotgun cartridge he developed that he called " Phoenix Fire" and fired it at Mercury's feet, with shards that seemed to appear on the ground before exploding, causing Mercury to jump into the air, just like he planned...

" _Know me by name, Shepherd of Fire."_ Xavier said to himself.

Mercury looked down to see a glowing orange cross, and tried to evade it but instead got caught in its blast, so Xavier finished him off by whacking him in the torso with _Eternal Judgment_ in its axe form, which sent him flying over to the other side of the arena.

" Now class, the reason Mr. Moore was able to defeat Mr. Black was that he followed a strategy, and sometimes strategies can actually help you in a fight when it is necessary." Goodwitch said as the bell for the next class rang.

Everyone was moving out when Emerald entered the Arena to help Mercury up...

" Wipe the floor with the Big tree, huh?" Emerald said, helping him up.

" I don't get it, I thought it was going to be an easy fight." Mercury said.

" Never underestimate your opponents, Mr. Black." Goodwitch said.

" Come on Mercury, Cinder's waiting for us." Emerald said.

She lead Mercury out of the combat classroom and berated him for accepting Xavier's challenge to duke it out in the arena. They passed by Xavier and his teammates, who talking about how he wiped the floor with Mercury.

" Man, you were awesome in class today." Blaze said.

" See, I told you the phoenix fire shells would work, and you had your doubts." Xavier said.

" That was impressive, Xavier." Alex said.

" Hey, not as impressive as you beating those kids by playing a little roundtable rival." Xavier said to his friend.

" Yeah, that was pretty cool." Alex remarked.

Their conversation made Mercury's blood boil, so he broke off from Emerald and confronted Xavier...

" Hey, asshole." Mercury said angrily.

" Whoa, somebody's throwing a fit." Xavier said.

" No one could made such precise strikes like you did, you clearly cheated." Mercury said in an accusing tone.

" Oh, now you've done it." Blaze said.

" Look here, you little punk, if I was the cheater, I could have easily beaten you with fewer moves." Xavier said.

" No one could have been able to pull off the shit you did in the arena." Mercury said.

" Well I'm a better strategist than you." Xavier said.

Mercury was about to punch him in the face, when Emerald immediately intervened, catching his arm before the blow could land...

" Mercury, stop." Emerald said.

" Smart move, miss, now we better be on our way." Xavier said as the group left.

They proceeded to their next class, and Mercury immediately shook himself free of his partner's grip and they went their own way. They immediately explained the situation to Cinder, who had decided it was time to have a little chat with the one who managed to best her student...

Outside Beacon Cafeteria

11:59 am

Xavier and his teammates were walking along when Xavier noticed Cinder along the way, sending the guys off to get some lunch in their systems and to save him a spot at the table, moving over to talk to her...

" I'm guessing you're Cinder." Xavier said.

" You guessed correctly." Cinder responded.

" What do you want?" Xavier asked.

" I heard you roughed up my teammate in Combat Class today." Cinder said.

" Oh, Mercury? He always sent me this smug look like he was better than anyone in the arena." Xavier said.

" Well, he doesn't take to kindly to losing." Cinder said in a humored tone.

" I know that, he tried to deck me in the face until his partner stepped in." Xavier remarked.

" Emerald does try her best to keep him in check." Cinder stated.

" Well, tell your boy to leash his temper, otherwise I'll do it for him in the arena." Xavier said.

" Why? Afraid for your friends? Think he might kill them in the arena one day? Or he might kill you?" Cinder said in a teasing tone.

" I'm not worried for our lives, I'm worried for his...and yours." Xavier said.

" Why is that?" Cinder asked in a sarcastic tone.

" Because if you threaten my teammates or my friends like that again, you both won't be getting " a head" in life." Xavier said angrily before walking away.

Cinder was left speechless as she was feeling angered by Xavier's words, but also a little scared by them. She didn't see a teenager walking away from her, she saw an opponent that she was actually seeing as the greatest threat to her plans. She immediately returned to her teammates in their dorm room...

" THAT BOY CANNOT BE REASONED WITH!" Cinder said angrily.

" What?" Emerald said.

" I tried to tell him to back off, but he turned the tables and issued me an ultimatum." Cinder said in a shocked/disbelieving tone.

" Well, What did he say?" Mercury asked.

" He said that if we threatened his team or his friends, we won't be getting " a head" in life." Cinder said.

" Cunning wordplay." Mercury said.

" Mercury, that means he's gonna be putting either of you on the chopping block and start swinging." Emerald said.

" He doesn't matter, did we even find out what his semblance is?" Cinder said, trying to calm down.

" Yeah we did, but you're not gonna like it." Mercury said.

" What?" Cinder said.

" His semblance gives him the power to cancel out an attack done by his opponent's semblance." Emerald said.

" He's basically the biggest threat to everything we've built." Mercury said.

" Plus, he's got that mark on his hand that gives him even more powers." Emerald said.

" There's more to it." Mercury said.

" What is it?" Cinder asked.

" Xavier Moore didn't exist until a couple months ago, same goes for his teammates." Mercury said.

" What the hell do you mean?" Cinder said.

" This somehow showed up alongside his friends a couple months ago, and they are already in Beacon." Mercury explained.

" I think I have an idea where they came from." Emerald said.

" What do you think?" Cinder asked her.

" I think they came from the other side of the Breach." Emerald said.

" What makes you think that?" Cinder asked.

" Think about it, they didn't exist till a couple of months ago, that was the same time the Breach was around.' Emerald explained.

" So what are we going to do?" Mercury asked.

" We are going to find a way to deal with that brat and his friends, and then we are going to continue with our plans." Cinder stated.

" But how? We don't even know anything about them." Emerald said.

" We're gonna have to talk one of Torchwick's old buddies." Mercury said.

" You mean that old information dealer?" Cinder asked.

" We have no other choice, if there's anybody in Remnant who has knowledge on these kids, it's gotta be her." Mercury said.

" Are you sure we want to talk to one of his exes?" Emerald said.

" He's right, we have no other choice." Cinder said.

They had agreed to talk to La Reina, a Faunus information dealer who used to date Roman Torchwick until their relationship fell south. While they were talking, Dante was standing behind them, rendered stunned by the fact his friends were now possibly in danger as Cinder, Remnant's most elusive criminal, was now conspiring to get rid of his closest friend and his teammates. He immediately returned to his reality, and Anna immediately went to her boyfriend's side...

" What's wrong?" Anna asked.

" It's Xavier, he and the guys are in danger." Dante said.

" What?" Anna said.

" Some criminal bitch is out for them, she planning to have the guys killed somehow." Dante explained.

" Can we warn them somehow?" Anna asked.

" I don't know if we can." Dante said.

" Dr. Wallace might know." Dante's mom said as she entered the room.

" How, we don't even know where she is gonna be." Anna said.

" She's got an office in Fort Drum, we can meet with her tomorrow." Dante's mom explained.

" _Hang in there Xavier, the Calvary is on its way._ " Dante thought to himself.

 **Meanwhile, back at Beacon...**

Beacon Academy, Team XBAZ dorm room.

1:30 pm

Zach was sitting in the room at his computer console with Xavier standing next to him, looking over a facial recognition software Zach had installed onto his personal computer. It was processing pictures of Mercury and Emerald, and came up with something that had piqued both boys interest...

"Well, well." Xavier said.

" Two little murderous birds, itchy to fly." Zach said.

" Call your brother and Alex, tell them we need to have a little chat." Xavier said.

They were looking at a photograph warning message that appeared to connect Mercury and Emerald, and was stating: WANTED IN CONNECTION WITH THE MURDER OF TUKSON, BOOKSTORE OWNER IN THE CITY OF VALE.

 **This is the end of chapter 4, signifying the beginning of a rivalry between Xavier's team and Cinder's team. Xavier and Zach have also recently discovered a secret of Emerald and Mercury's, stating they are connected to Tukson's murder. The next chapter begins with Cinder meeting with La Reina, and the boys conspiring to stand against Cinder should she make a move against any of their friends or allies in Beacon.**

 **WAIT AND SEE.**


	5. Chapter 5: Templar Strategem

Chapter 5: The Templar Stratagem 

Team XBAZ's dorm room, Beacon Academy.

1:50 pm

The boys were discussing the most recent discovery Zach had made, the discovery that Emerald and Mercury are wanted in the connection of the murder of Tukson, a local bookstore owner in the city of Vale. Blaze was pacing back and forth while Alex was tuning the strings on his guitar. Zach was modifying some of his shotgun shells while Xavier sat in the chair at the computer...

" I can't believe this." Blaze said in an angered tone.

" I know you're pissed, but what are we going to do?" Alex asked.

" Can we just take this info to the police?" Zach asked.

" No, they would just flip the story to their favor." Xavier said.

" So we're stuck while they're roaming free on the grounds." Alex exclaimed.

" No, we're not." Blaze said.

" Blaze's right, I got a feeling there's more to their presence here than just attendance." Xavier said.

" How do you suspect that?" Zach asked his team captain.

" Just hear what I have to say." Xavier said.

While the boys were talking over a plan to deal with Cinder and her goons, Cinder had an important meeting with someone who could provide intelligence on her rivals...

The Blossom Club, Vale.

2:01 pm

The Blossom Club was a formal club in the city and secretly home to operations of ill fame behind closed doors. La Reina was the President of the club and secretly one of the nation's largest information dealers due to her large network of spies and informants. Cinder walked into the club, proceeding to the ballroom, where she was just concluding a meeting between her and her board of members...

" Ah, Cinder Fall." Reina said.

" Reina, its been too long." Cinder said.

" Yes, its been too long since Roman betrayed me." Reina said, behind the curtain.

Cinder knew the story of how Roman had originally set an acid trap for an assassin that was coming for him, but he set the trap improperly and the acid severely injured Reina, causing her to receive sever burns all over her body. She ended their relationship in the form of shooting him in the ass as he ran away when he visited her in the hospital, and then retreated to seclusion after that fiasco and built the entire network she controls now...

" What do you want, Cinder?" Reina asked.

" I'm simply here to get some Intel, mainly on four young boys." Cinder explained.

" You mean those four that came over into our world from the Breach?" Reina asked.

" Yes, exactly." Cinder responded.

" Then come over to the side." Reina said, directing Cinder to a chair by the bed.

Cinder carefully walked over to a chair that sat next to her nightstand, and the curtains by the bedside retreated, exposing Reina. Reina's entire lower body was wrapped in white bandages covered by her long, red gown, with severe burns showing up along both sides of her neck, wrapping the majority of her face, excluding her forehead and eyes.

" You've looked well." Cinder said, trying to defuse the now-tense situation.

" You don't have to lie, I do know that I look like shit." Reina said with a slight chuckle.

" Heh, look, do you know anything about these boys?" Cinder said.

" Straight to business, huh? That's why I like you better than Roman and those students of yours." Reina said. " Xavier and his compatriots are known to be fierce fighters, and the loyalty to each other and their friends is seriously unwavering. Xavier has the strategic mind of a master at war, even has Ironwood surprised, as the kid beat him in chess several times. That mark on his hand gives him a platitude of abilities, and you clearly know he doesn't take to kindly to threats against him, his teammates, or even his friends and family." She said.

" What about his teammates?" Cinder asked.

" The Sackett boys are actual brothers, so if threaten one, be prepared to face the fury of the other. Zach is the technical expert and sound manipulator like his partner, while his brother Blaze is a savant when it comes to being stealthy and will constantly time himself for the right moment when he strikes. Finally, Alex has had a series of problems growing up, but will defend his friends should either you or any of your compatriots attack them. " Reina said.

" Is that all you know?" Cinder asked.

" Yes, but for this info, you must do something for me in return." Reina said.

" What is that?" Cinder asked immediately.

" Give Roman my regards." Reina said simply.

Cinder exited the room and a young girl in a formal garb entered the room, carrying a white umbrella in her right hand. What she wore was a white shirt with dark blue embroidery, a long blue skirt, and a hat with violets on top. She walked over to Reina's side after passing Cinder...

" Follow her, report back to me if anything happens to her." Reina ordered.

" Yes ma'am." The Girl said.

" I'm trusting you with this Ashlyn, I want to make sure she doesn't take my information for granted." Reina said.

" I will do anything for the mistress of the house." Ashlyn said.

" You really are the most loyal android we've built." Reina said.

" Of course, ma'am." Ashlyn said.

She then walked away, leaving Reina by herself in the room. Ashlyn was actually a " Clockwork person" which was actually a derogatory term to her, as she was a much more advanced android than that of Atlas-made robots. She also had an aura, but it was ten times stronger than that of a regular person's, and she never had to worry about any of her gears jamming up in combat. She left the building to accomplish her mission...

Office of Dr. Sandra Wallace

Fort Drum, New York.

3:30 pm

Dante and his mom arrived outside the office of Dr. Wallace with the hopes of gaining the understanding of why Dante can enter interdimensional tears and go in and out of them without taking any damage from it all. Snow was coming down at a quick pace, so they hurried inside as they wanted to get quickly out of the cold. They were greeted by a man in a fancy suit who was sitting behind a desk...

" Good afternoon." The man said.

" Hi, we're here to see Dr. Wallace." Dante's mom said.

" This is not a normal doctor's office, please leave." The man said.

" Listen here, I can walk through interdimensional tears and watch events in the world on the other side like a freaking home movie." Dante said angrily.

The man was stunned by the boy had said to him, so he pointed them to upstairs and they entered the room to see a young woman with ginger hair, wearing a long white lab coat with a red shirt underneath, blue jeans, and brown boots experimenting on another interdimensional tear.

" Are you just going to stand there? Shut the door." She said.

" Sorry." Dante's mom said, closing the door.

" Is that an interdimensional tear?" Dante asked.

" No, it's a new window that I'm putting in this room." Wallace said sarcastically.

" Well that's funny, I have one just like it in my room." Dante remarked.

Dr. Wallace immediately went silent after hearing what the middle school student from Brewerton had just said to her...

" Oh, you're gonna play nice now huh?" Dante said.

" You have an interdimensional tear in your bedroom?" Dr. Wallace asked.

" Yeah, I can walk through it and not get harmed by it." Dante said.

" Then it's worse than I feared.." Dr. Wallace said, but Dante wasn't listening.

" LET'S GO, HURRY!" A voice on the other side of the tear said.

Dante had begun to hear voices on the other side of the tear in Dr. Wallace's office. Voices that sounded almost familiar to him, and he slowly approached the tear while Dr. Wallace went over to talk to his mom...

" YANG!" A female voice said.

" Take her! I'm going to get Yang!" The first voice said.

Dante stepped through the tear after realizing the first voice he heard was in fact Xavier's, and the tear took him to Mountain Glenn, the abandoned expansion to the city of Vale. There, he saw Xavier and his teammates trying to evacuate Team RWBY from a position that was going to get overrun.

" Let's go, hurry!" Xavier said, trying to get Ruby out of the area.

" YANG!" Ruby screamed after she watched her sister go down, then trying to run to her sibling's aid, only to be stopped by Xavier.

" What are you doing?" Xavier said.

" Yang!, she's still out there and getting overrun!" Ruby exclaimed.

Xavier paused and looked to where Ruby was pointing to, only to see Yang get toppled by Grimm and the shape of her left _Ember Celica_ raised out of the pile.

" Fuck, Blaze, take her, I'm going to get Yang!" Xavier exclaimed.

" Wait, what?" Blaze said.

Xavier jumped into the long spanding trench, firing _Eternal Judgment_ until he transformed it into its axe form. He carved his way through the Grimm, until a Beowolf strike hit him in his left eye...

" Ow, you son-of-a-bitch, you're gonna pay for that." Xavier said before chopping its head off in one swing.

Xavier hadn't anticipated his aura being that low, but he still had to save his friend who was in danger. He continued to carve his way through the Grimm, suffering injuries along the way, but he reached Yang. He cleared off the Grimm on top of her, then looked down to see she was covered in injuries and bleeding greatly. Her long, golden hair had been cut short due to her attackers, as he seen large chunks of her golden hair in the dead Grimm's talons.

" Yang! Hang on, I got ya!" Xavier exclaimed.

" ( _Weakly_ ) Xavier?" Yang asked.

Xavier started dragging Yang out of the entrenched part of the ruins and into a collapsed building, but the Grimm descended upon them like vultures. Xavier leaned Yang up against a fallen column so he could defend her, but an immense pain was felt in his left arm as he looked to see an Ursa biting down hard onto his arm. He screamed so loudly in pain, that it was heard all the way at Blaze and the other's location...

" Xavier's in trouble!" Blake exclaimed.

" Let's move!" Blaze said.

The Cross on Xavier's left hand began to glow ever so brightly, as light began to shine between the spaces of his clenched fist. He raised his left arm into the air as the light began to get brighter...

" GO TO HELL!" Xavier screamed.

He slammed his left fist down hard onto the Ursa's head, causing an explosion that obliterated the Grimm surrounding him and Yang. The shockwave was so powerful, it caused anyone or anything in it's path to be thrown through the air, landing on it's backside. Blaze's group picked themselves up and raced over to Xavier's location, to find Yang trying to stay conscious and Xavier lying in a pool of blood, with his right arm completely gone. Blake pulled out her scroll and began to speak into it...

" I need a medevac at my location, please hurry!" Blake said as tears started to flow into her eyes.

While they were scrambling to help the two injured teens, Dante was paralyzed with horror by the sight of his friend's condition...

" _Oh my god._ " Dante thought.

He was propelled back into his world, where his mother and Dr. Wallace had been standing over him, with his head cradled in his mother's lap...

" Dante? Are you alright?" Dante's mom asked.

" I'm good, just a little shaken up by what I saw in that." Dante said.

" How did you do that?" Dr. Wallace asked.

" I can walk into them and see what's going in that world." Dante explained simply.

" Tell me everything about what you had seen on the other side of these tears." Dr. Wallace ordered.

Dante knew he had quite a story to tell her, but acknowledged that she was willing to listen...

 **This concludes Chapter 5, where Xavier and his teammates conspire a plan against Cinder, while Dante receives a terrifying vision of what will soon be after he enters a tear that is located in the office of Dr. Sandra Wallace, an Interdimensional researcher in the U.S under orders from the UN. The next chapter explains that the tears are damaged parts of a barrier between Earth and Remnant, and it fast forwards to the Grimm attack in the city, followed by Zach begins to take a bunch of old, unused and intact boom boxes and gets an idea...**

 **WAIT AND SEE.**


	6. Chapter 6: Sound Maestro

Chapter 6: Sound Maestro

Vale City Streets

9:00 am

( _Narration by Xavier.)_

It was early at the start of the day, the day a high-speed train running all the way from the abandoned train stations of the Mountain Glenn impacted with the inner city's wall that permanently sealed them. The result was a full-scale Grimm attack on the city, and everyone had sprung into action. While our friends on Team RWBY fought the Grimm in the square where the Breach was, my team and I pressed forward with the intent to aid our friends in this fight.

" Keep moving guys, don't let them corner you!" Xavier said.

" Got it." They responded.

Team XBAZ was pressing forward through a street crawling with hostile Grimm. They fought off Beowolves, Ursa, Creeps, and even the occasional Deathstalker that stood in their way of their objective. They pressed into the city square, where Teams JNPR and RWBY were holding their ground with support from Mercury and Emerald (which made Zach a little uneasy) followed by the arrival of Ironwood's soldiers. The boys suppressed Grimm on the opposite side of the opening. In the aftermath, they returned to Beacon to discuss the latest events...

" Man, that was a good fight." Blaze said.

" Consider that our first official battle during our time in Remnant, gentlemen." Xavier said.

" Dude, we whooped some Grimm ass today." Alex said.

" Yeah, If I remember, my kill count stood at 46." Zach said.

" 46, mine was at 79 bro." Blaze remarked.

" I had the best score of 90 boys." Xavier said.

" Well read them and weep, I had over a hundred kills." Alex said.

" OHH, show-off." The other three boys said.

As the boys took turns to wash up and clean up from the fighting in the city, Zach decided to show Xavier something he had been working on in secret...

" Alright, what did you want me to see?" Xavier asked.

" Just the most awesome idea ever." Zach said.

" What?" Xavier asked.

Zach pulled out some blueprints and shown them to him, in which appeared on the papers looked like a Beat Box that had been transformed into a gun, which had Xavier confused...

" Is that a Beat Box gun?" Xavier asked.

" It's a sonic gun, it basically fires weaponized sound." Zach explained.

" Weaponized sound?" Xavier inquired.

" Yeah, I did it with some of the songs that were on the IPods, Mp3 players, and phones that were left behind." Zach stated.

" Wait, you've weaponized songs from our dimension?" Xavier said in a shocked tone.

" Pretty much, yeah." Zach responded.

" What do you intend to do with this sonic gun and weaponized songs?" Xavier asked his teammate.

" I'm actually thinking of making more sonic guns." Zach said.

" Oh, you want to become an arms dealer?" Xavier said sarcastically.

" No, we could use these to capture one of Cinder's associates." Zach explained.

" I see, looks like you got a little project ahead of you." Xavier said.

" So you're in?" Zach asked.

" We'll need a way to capture one of her associates without being connected in any way." Xavier said.

" Good, because it's gonna take sometime to assemble the weapons and a sonic interrogation set-up." Zach said.

" When can you have it ready?" Xavier asked.

" In a couple of weeks." Zach responded.

" Have fun." Xavier said.

" Bathroom's open!" Blaze hollered.

" Alright." Xavier said.

The boys took their showers and continued their day all the way into the evening, Zach had been approached by Mercury...

" Nice work today, kid." Mercury said.

" Thanks, you too." Zach responded.

" (Chuckle) You're never gonna be the best." Mercury said which made Zach stop in his tracks.

" What'd you just say?" Zach asked.

" You guys are just a bunch of upstarts, when step into that arena when the tournament comes around, all that's gonna happen is that you'll be ripped apart." Mercury said.

" Really now? Big words coming from a murderer." Zach said.

" What?" Mercury said in a tone of denial.

" Visited a nice little bookstore in the city one day, previous owner's sister owns the place now, boycotts all copies of _The Third Crusade_ in honor of her dead brother. " Zach said.

" So what?" Mercury said.

" She was outraged over the fact police couldn't find any evidence to catch the killer." Zach started. " But what they failed to find was a bullet casing, that had bounced and landed underneath a book rack in the store." He added which angered Mercury.

" Ooh, I must have touched a nerve." Zach remarked.

" Are you trying to blackmail me?" Mercury said.

" Actually, I'm calling this little chat a negotiation." Zach said.

" What do you want?" Mercury said in an angered tone.

" Simple, don't threaten my teammates ever again and I don't sell your ass out to Ironwood." Zach said, walking away.

Zach left Mercury speechless and confused after the ultimatum that he had issued. He returned to the dorm, and they continued their lives until the next day.

 _The Next Day._

Beacon Academy Combat class.

9:00 am

Blaze had easily bested Cardin Winchester and Russell Thrush in a fight with Alex in class today. Next up was Mercury and Emerald against the pairing, but the boys were oblivious to the fact that Mercury and Emerald intended to lash out at them...

" Let's have a good fight." Blaze said.

" Yes, lets." Emerald said.

Goodwitch allowed the fight to begin, so Mercury and Emerald began to relentlessly assault the boys so they wouldn't get any hits in.

" They are trying to beat us easy!" Alex exclaimed.

" So lets fight in the shade, DARK SOUND!" Blaze said.

Blaze engulfed the entire arena floor in a dark, shadow-like fog that both Mercury and Emerald couldn't see each other in. They wandered around aimlessly in it, completely lost, until Mercury lashed out when he heard the sound of Alex strumming his guitar. But he instead hit Emerald square in the face...

" OWW!" Emerald said.

" Oh my god, I am so sorry." Mercury said.

" Watch it next time!" Emerald exclaimed.

" Hey, I can't see a darn thing in this fog!" Mercury explained, trying to refrain from swearing.

They continued to try and maneuver their way through the fog, until Emerald heard two fast strikes...

" Mercury? Whoa!" Emerald said as she tripped over something.

She looked down to see what she tripped over, only to find out it was a slightly dazed Mercury...

" Emerald?" Mercury said.

" Mercury? How did this happen?" Emerald asked.

" It's... a trap." Mercury said.

Emerald was too slow to react when Blaze slowly and quietly stood up behind her, then proceeded to knock her down faster than she could react. The fight concluded as their aura was in the red, so the mist dissipated as the two boys stood victorious.

" That is teamwork, which is required when paired with a second huntsman or huntress, as it will save your life." Goodwitch said as the bell rang.

As the kids all began to proceed to their next class, anger was stirring in Emerald, anger she couldn't control or stop. It was anger at the fact she was just humiliated in the arena by two complete strangers, so she got up and stormed towards the exit, which alerted Mercury...

" Whoa, Emerald, what are you doing?" Mercury said in a concerned tone.

" Evening a score!" Emerald responded.

" Emerald, stop, you need to calm down and think about what you're doing." Mercury said, now seriously alarmed.

" Oh, I've thought about it." Emerald said in an angered tone.

Mercury scrambled to his feet, quickly giving chase to his angered partner. She was already on the second level with her weapons drawn, but as he raced to stop her, she had already swung it in its chained attachment form at Blaze, but Blaze had turned the corner and exited the room, so she instead ended up hitting a red-haired girl in a Beacon uniform in the face, causing her to fall down the stairs in pain...

" What the hell?" Alex said turning around.

The two boys immediately ran back to help the injured girl, while their team captain saw the still-aggressive but shocked Emerald trying to approach Blaze. He immediately responded by grabbing her wrists and started to twist them to the point so she would drop whatever she was holding...

" Drop them, now." Xavier said in a stern tone.

Emerald had already began to strain under the pressure he had her wrists at, so she had no choice but to drop her weapons. Mercury was walking up, but he was shoved out of the way by Professor Goodwitch, who wasn't happy with what had just happened...

" MS. SUSTRAI!" Goodwitch said.

" _Emerald, what have you done?_ " Mercury thought.

" What the hell is the matter with you? Assaulting a student?!" Goodwitch said angrily.

" It was an accident!" Emerald said in her defense.

" Or really, an accident when you were trying to assault my teammates?!" Xavier exclaimed.

" What the hell is wrong with you?!" Alex said, having overheard.

" That is it! Report to Ozpin's office immediately!" Goodwitch ordered.

" But-" Emerald said.

" Move it!" Goodwitch said.

Emerald walked out of the classroom with a shameful look on her face, but Xavier didn't trust her enough to go to the headmaster's office to receive a punishment for her actions. While Goodwitch pulled out her scroll to contact Ozpin, he walked over to Blaze and Alex, who were helping the poor girl to her feet...

" She alright?" Xavier asked.

" We think she has a concussion." Alex said.

" Why don't run her over to the infirmary, Alex? I need Blaze to do something for me." Xavier said.

" Okay." Alex said.

" Ow." The girl said.

Alex picked up her stuff, then proceeded to walk out of the room. Xavier then turned to Blaze and began to speak...

" What do you need?" Blaze asked.

" I need you to tail Emerald, make sure she gets to the headmaster's office." Xavier said.

" Okay, I'll stick to the shadows." Blaze said, cloaking himself in shadow.

Blaze followed Emerald while Xavier proceeded to meet up with Zach in their Grimm Ecology class with Professor Port. Alex showed up after a bit, with a big smile on his face...

" What's got you happy?" Xavier asked.

" I got myself a date to that dance that's coming up." Alex said.

" You mean, with that girl Emerald hit in the face?" Xavier said.

" Her name's Kayla dude." Alex responded.

Xavier was glad that his friend had gotten himself a date to the dance, so they continued about their day until they proceeded back to their dorms for the evening. Zach turned out to have beaten the group to the room, where he had set up strange weapons on their beds...

" What are these Zach?" Blaze asked with a confused tone of voice.

" These are Sonic rifles, each programmed with a weaponized song." Zach explained.

" You weaponized actual songs?" Alex asked in a shocked tone.

" Yep, I weaponized a lot of songs from our dimension." Zach said.

" What songs have you weaponized?" Xavier asked.

" One Rebecca Black song, a lot of Disturbed songs, a couple of Bruno Mars songs, and so many more." Zach responded.

" Where did you even get the songs?" Alex asked.

" One thing about the Breach, a lot of stuff gets pulled through, including IPods, Mp3 players, and phones." Zach explained.

" How did you even build the guns?" Blaze asked as he picked the one up of his bed.

" With four old but still intact and working Beat boxes, old gun parts, and computer parts." Zach stated.

" What's with the case?" Xavier asked, pointing to the case on the desk.

" Oh, that's these things ammo." Zach said, opening the case.

The other three boys looked down onto a series of flash drives, each with blue, green, yellow, red, and pink tape on one end of them...

" What's with the tape?" Alex asked as he picked up a drive with red tape on it.

" The tape is to symbolize what colored beam comes out. Look at this paper if you want to know what it means." Zach explained, handing them a sheet of paper.

The three boys looked down at the piece of paper, in which it had shown three different color-codes along a description of what the colors mean and the effects of the weaponized songs...

BLUE- DISORIENTS OPPONENT

GREEN- FATIGUES OPPONENT

RED- PARALYSIS

YELLOW- INDUCED PYSHCOSIS

PINK- CALMS OPPONENT

They were both impressed and a little bit terrified at what Zach had managed to accomplish. Xavier knew what this had meant, which had caught the attention of the other two...

" Xavier, did you ask my brother to make these?" Blaze asked.

" We have an idea to find out if Cinder is not who she says she is." Xavier said.

" What does that plan involve?" Alex asked.

" Kidnapping one of his teammates." Zach said.

" Wait, we're gonna kidnap somebody?" Alex said in a shocked tone.

" Zach." Xavier said.

" I did a little fact checking, turns out Mercury and Emerald are held in suspicion to a murder that had happened in the city a couple of days ago, along with the fact their transcripts are fake." Zach said.

" Their transcripts are fake?" Blaze asked.

" Yeah, they were done by a professional too." Zach said in response.

" That explains how they got in." Xavier said.

" I might know the perfect target..." Blaze said with a snicker.

While they were discussing a plan to stage a kidnapping, Cinder was getting mad at Emerald for being so careless earlier today...

" WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?" Cinder exclaimed.

" How many times do I have to say that I'm sorry?" Emerald argued.

" You need to learn when to control your temper!" Cinder said.

" How long have you been punished?" Mercury asked.

" I've got detention for 3 weeks, one more offense, then I am officially removed from participating in the tournament." Emerald said.

" That will give you plenty of time to learn how to control your temper." Cinder said.

" Were you able to learn anything from Reina?" Mercury inquired.

" No, she's about as oblivious when it comes to these boys as we are." Cinder said. " All she was able to tell me was that they specialize in the most ridiculous." She added.

" Well, looks like we're gonna have to keep trying until we learn something." Mercury said.

" No, when the tournament comes around, we will end them." Cinder said.

" How?" Mercury said.

" You'll see." Cinder said.

Throughout their entire talk, Ashlyn was listening into the room by hiding very quietly on the ledge outside their window...

" _So, you intend on murdering these uniquely gifted children, my mistress won't stand for it."_ Ashlyn thought.

 **This chapter concludes with the boys conspiring to stage a kidnapping, Cinder plotting to murder the boys, and Ashlyn spying on Cinder's sinister plans. Ashlyn is based off Mary Poppins and Asholette from the video game Soul Calibur 4. The next chapter will start with Ashlyn reporting back to her mistress, a kidnapping takes place before the tournament starts, and La Reina's true intentions are revealed.**

 **WAIT AND SEE.**


	7. Chapter 7: Vanguard Hour

Chapter 7: Hour of The Vanguard

The Blossom Club, Reina's quarters

7:00 am

Ashlyn glided across the sky, with her open umbrella from Beacon and landed in front of The Blossom Club with the intent of delivering a message of warning to her mistress, La Reina. The human heart that beat inside her metallic body was beating so fast after learning that Cinder Fall was planning to kill four innocent children that have only lost their only chance of seeing their families again awhile ago. She proceeded to the door outside her quarters where Reina had just awoken from her sleep, so she knocked...

" Come in." Reina said before giving a yawn.

Ashlyn entered the room where her mentor had just began to wake herself up...

" Mistress, I bring terrible news." Ashlyn said.

" Ashlyn, what is it?" Reina said, now having officially awoken.

" Cinder Fall is conspiring to murder the four children she had asked you for intelligence about." Ashlyn said.

" (Sigh) Of course." Reina said.

" Mistress?" Ashlyn asked.

" It's alright, child, just remember this, Code: Shepard." Reina said.

Ashlyn's eyes immediately glowed blue, and then she leaned forward like she had fallen asleep standing up. She then straightened back up, and her eyes looked like they had belonged in a computer system, and began to speak in a voice that wasn't hers at all...

UPGRADE UNLOCKED: NANO-REPAIR SYSTEM ACTIVATED.

" What? What just happened?" Ashlyn said.

" I activated one of the extra programs you were installed with." Reina said.

" What shall I do now?" Ashlyn asked.

" Stop Cinder at any cost, do not let her succeed." Reina said.

" Yes, mistress." Ashlyn said before walking out of the room.

Reina reached into her nightstand, pulling a hidden lever in which revealed a large stone rune on the floor. She also pulled a smaller rune, laying her scared hand over it carefully, causing a fire-like entity to appear on the larger one, who then began to converse with Reina...

" Ma'am, it is just as you feared." Reina said.

" _My assailant is targeting the next Sentinel?_ " The entity asked.

" Yes, the candidate appears to be a threat to her sinister intentions." Reina explained.

" _The boy is to be the next Sentinel of Fall, as Scar was slain before he could reach me in time._ " The entity said.

" I know Amber, we confirmed it was her hand that ended his life." Reina said.

The entity that Reina was conversing with was actually the corporeal consciousness of Amber, the Fall maiden. Since Amber was able to do this like her fellow maidens, she secretly communicated with Reina despite being confined to the capsule in the vault...

" _She needs to be stopped, otherwise the season will rip itself apart._ " Amber said.

" Yes, her abuse of the power she stole from you must end." Reina said.

" _Assemble the Vanguard, devise a plan, and identify the supposed successor to me._ " Amber ordered.

" They believe that the successor is the warrior Pyrrah Nikos." Reina said.

" _We'll see._ " Amber said before disappearing.

Reina was secretly a member of the Vanguard, a secret society of elite warriors and minds dedicated to the singular mission that was laid ahead of them: to protect and locate the Sentinels of the Seasons. The Sentinels were powerful beings created by the same old man who granted the Maidens their powers. He created them to be the defenders of the maidens at their request, as they were at first afraid of their powers and those who would seek to take their powers from them. Each sentinel had control over an element that had pertained to their season, making them worthy enough to protect the maidens. The Sentinels were originally four compatriots who sought to be protectors of the innocent, but were denied access to any military or law enforcement group as they were declared unfit. Each Sentinel fought with the same purpose but varied in their forms. The Sentinel of Fall was an angelic knight with wings of silver that gave him power over the winds that circulated around the world. The Sentinel of Spring took the form a celestial creature that had power over the plants of nature. The Sentinel of Summer was a living conduit of flame, taking the form of a fire elemental warrior and emanating heat wherever they had roamed. The Final Sentinel, the Sentinel of Winter, was a white knight that dominated over the sub-zero temperatures of Winter, turning it into a weapon to use against their foes.

But something was off, as when the attack on Amber took place, Her sentinel did not appear during her time of need...

" Computer, connect me to Vanguard leaders Campbell, Saunders, and Tobias." Reina said.

" _Patching you in now._ " The Computer said.

The monitors in front of her bed brought up images of a man wearing a formal business suit, a blonde woman in a business suit as well, and a man in an Aletian Naval Officer's uniform...

" Everyone, what's the situation?" Reina asked.

" _Things are pretty tense here in Atlas, the Sentinel and the Maiden here have dropped out of contact in fear of her safety._ " The Naval officer, Campbell, said.

" What about the Sentinel of Fall, do we have any details about why he went dark?" Reina asked the blonde.

" _His shaman found him dead in the forests with a poisoned arrow in his torso."_ The blonde, Kendra, explained.

" _That explains why Amber was vulnerable to an attack._ " Campbell said.

" Intelligence of my own has confirmed the successor has been chosen, but he is now in danger." Reina said.

" _Then we must move him to safety._ " Kendra said.

" _No, that will be the one thing Cinder expects. She'll have assassins waiting at whatever location we move him to._ " Tobias stated.

" He is currently a student at Beacon Academy, and his power is growing." Reina said.

" _When his power reaches its full strength, he will take up the Mantle._ " Tobias said.

" That he will." Reina said.

But while they were conversing with each other, Xavier and his friends were about to stage a kidnapping...

Amity Stadium, the following week.

5:30 pm

Emerald had just exited the washrooms to proceed in meeting up with Cinder to watch a match, but something felt off as the hallway was quiet, too quiet...

" _What the hell, where is everyone?_ " Emerald thought.

She surveyed the scene she was currently standing as there was not a soul in sight but herself. The only thing that could be heard was the commotion of the crowd in the arena, completely unaware that this scene was perfect for an attack. Two steam-punk armored figures appeared behind her while another two appeared in the front of her...

" Do you four know who I work for?" Emerald said, thinking she would be safe.

" _Yeah, we know."_ The Leader, Reaper, said.

" _We just don't give a fuck._ " Ripper, one of the other three, said.

They raised their sonic weapons at her, squeezing the triggers in unison. Waves of Red energy hurtled out of their barrels towards Emerald, but missed as she evaded them, then proceeded to open fire on her attackers. But as she continued to dodge, a red beam impacted on her leg, rendering it completely numb and useless, which made her fall to the floor...

" _Are those beams paralyzing me?_ " Emerald thought.

They surrounded the downed girl, raised their guns at her, and opened fire. She was rendered completely immobile by the energy hurtled by the weapons, completely helpless as they loaded her into a garbage cart, then loaded onto an airship that immediately took off after all four individuals were onboard. This left Cinder puzzled as to why her teammate wasn't present at the time for her assignment...

" _Emerald, where the hell are you?_ " Cinder thought.

She got up out her seat, proceeding to the washrooms in order see what was keeping her teammate from returning to meet with her. She proceeded to the washroom corridor, where Aletian security had already surrounded the corridor, picking up the pieces...

" Excuse me, what happened?" Cinder asked one of the guards.

" There's been a kidnapping, ma'am, some freaks abducted a poor girl who had just exited the washroom." The guard explained.

" Did this girl have green hair?" Cinder asked.

" Yes, and she fought back, but her attackers utilized some kind of advanced weaponry to fight her." The guard said.

" I see, let me know if you need any assistance." Cinder said.

" Thanks." The guard responded.

Cinder was left angered by what just had been told to her: her teammate has been abducted by unknown assailants. She returned to the arena audience, but also called to put out an open information bounty out on the mysterious assailants who had abducted her.

Unknown location

6:01 pm

Emerald awoken restrained to a chair in the middle of a dark room, with her weapons gone from her side. The restraints that held her still were made of chrome steel, which they were located on her ankles, abdomen, neck, and wrists.

" _You're awake, good._ " Reaper said.

" What the hell is going on? Who are you?" Emerald asked.

" _Who we are is not important, what is important is what we are going to ask you._ " Ripper said.

" _What is Cinder Fall planning?_ " Reaper asked.

" Fuck you, I am not going to tell you anything!" Emerald said.

" _Listen girl, Maestro over there is itchy to use his new toy, so just play nice and he won't have to use it._ " Ripper explained.

" I'm not going to betray my mentor's plans to a bunch of nutjobs." Emerald said in a defiant tone.

" _Have you ever heard of the practice of using sound as a torture weapon?_ " Reaper asked.

" No." Emerald responded, now starting to sound a bit worried.

" _Well, these two gentlemen are the masters of the practice, so don't bother trying to unlock your restraints as they have automated locks, making the way to unlock them is if I push a button on my bracer, and enjoy the music."_ Reaper said.

" Wait, you're gonna leave me alone with them?" Emerald said, now really concerned.

" _Yes of course, let us know when she's ready to talk._ " Reaper said to the two gentlemen at the console.

" _Sure thing."_ Maestro said.

They immediately went to work, playing the weaponized version of Rebecca Black's _Friday_ to Emerald, slowly cranking up the volume. While Emerald was being tortured, Dante was about to get an education in the Interdimensional tear from Dr. Wallace...

Office of Dr. Sandra Wallace.

Fort Drum, New York.

4:01 pm

Dante was shaking after seeing what had happened to his friend on the other side of the tear, so Dr. Wallace made him a cup of hot chocolate in the hopes of settling his nerves...

" What did you see on the other side of the tear?" Dante's mom asked her horrified son.

" I saw Xavier getting attacked, by Grimm." Dante said.

" Grimm? What are these Grimm?" Dr. Wallace asked.

" They're these monsters that terrorize the people of the world on the other side of the Breach." Dante explained.

" There is another world on the other side of these tears?" Dr. Wallace inquired.

" Yes, and they're showing Dante what is happening to his friends as they were trapped in that world when the breach was sealed." Dante's mom responded.

" But, if there is more than one of these, that may cause some issues." Dr. Wallace explained.

" What?" Dante said.

" These tears are the bi-product of the Breach itself, living gateways between this world and the other one as you speak of. If someone can manipulate them improperly, they can physically tear the entire fabric of reality apart or merge the two worlds together." Dr. Wallace explained.

" But they have been showing me what happens to my friends like a freaking home movie." Dante said.

" That's because that's what they wanted to show you. Tears can be either gateways or windows for the person who interacts with them." Dr. Wallace said.

" So what can be done about them?" Dante's mom asked.

" Look, we need to find a way to seal the tears, that's why the UN sent me here." Dr. Wallace said.

" Well, these tears have been wanting me to see what my friends are becoming, so I'm gonna be learning what I can from them." Dante said.

" This can be beneficial to both of us." Dr. Wallace said.

" What do you mean?" Dante's mom asked.

" You can learn what's happening to your friends, and I can learn of a way to seal the tears." Dr. Wallace said.

" But that doesn't explain why I saw that happen." Dante said in an agitated tone.

" What if you saw something that hasn't happened yet?" Dr. Wallace figured.

" What do you mean?" Dante's mom asked.

" When you enter tears, there are moments that it takes you to either a point in the present, or the future." Dr. Wallace explained.

But as they were talking, something fell through the tear in her office and onto the floor. It was a metal cylinder, about as wide as a soup can, and as tall as two cans stack on top of each other, so Dante walked over to pick it up, then peaked inside. He found a slip of paper with his name written on it, quickly opening it...

 _Please deliver the notes inside to our families, D_

 _Signed, Z_

Dante was surprised, it was a message from Zach, asking him to deliver the letters inside to their families. But as the doctor and Dante's mom stood speechless at the discovery, they did not pay attention to the strange figure standing at the window with blood red eyes, as a voice was playing over in its head...

" _Eradicate their families and friends as a warning to them as they have threatened my plans enough, leave none alive."_ Cinder said.

 **This chapter concludes with Dante forming an alliance with Dr. Wallace to deal with the possible threat of the tears, but they are oblivious to the arrival of The Changeling that was watching them. A Changeling is a shape-changing Grimm that takes the form of the race that it is hunting, and this one is sent by Cinder to assassinate the families of the four boys as retaliation for them interfering with her plans. The next chapter picks up at the start of the episode " Destiny", Mercury's world is about to change, Cinder learns about what the boys had done, and Ironwood's desperate containment of the surging numbers of Grimm in Mountain Glenn causes him to make a choice that he will soon come to regret...**

 **WAIT AND SEE.**


	8. Chapter 8: First into Hell

Chapter 8: First into Hell

Unknown location

City of Vale

6:30 pm

Emerald screamed for hours as they continued to blast the weaponized song at her, while Reaper and Ripper sat outside in the hall simply playing cards to kill the time until Emerald was ready to talk to them. Reaper was actually Xavier, making Ripper actually be Blaze. After an hour and a half, Soundwave (Zach) came out of the interrogation room...

" _She's broken in boys_." Soundwave said.

" _Good, let's go to work._ " Reaper said to his partner.

They put their cards down onto the table face down, then proceeded to walk towards the interrogation room. When they entered the room, Emerald was in terrible condition, as dark bags were underneath her eyes and blood was trickling down her face from her nose, staining her uniform...

" _Well, you look great._ " Reaper said sarcastically.

" _I think this may be our greatest masterpiece._ " Maestro said.

" Please, I'll talk, just don't play that song again." Emerald said as her voice was starting to break.

" _What is your employer planning?_ " Reaper asked.

" She's been sabotaging the tournament matches, hoping the people would turn against the huntsmen and huntress idea." Emerald said.

" _Why?_ " Ripper asked.

" Because she wants to weaken the nations, it's all gonna lead to the grand plan of hers." Emerald said.

" _What do you mean? Enlighten us._ " Maestro (Alex) said.

" Revolution, she wants to take over the motherfucking world." Emerald said.

" _Of course, throw the world into chaos, people will do anything for protection from the Grimm._ " Soundwave said.

" _Even if that means surrendering your freedom to a maniac._ " Reaper said in response.

" There's more to it, she's got some kind of virus in the school and arena systems." Emerald said.

" _What's its purpose?_ " Reaper asked.

" It allows her to tap into the system, she's also had me and Mercury sabotaging the matches in our own way." Emerald explained.

" _How? Or should Rebecca explain to you what day it is again?_ " Reaper said in an angered tone.

" Mercury has prosthetic legs, and I can cast an illusion onto an individual's mind." Emerald started.

" _How do those attributes fall into play?_ " Soundwave inquired.

" We set Yang up, I made her think Mercury attacked her, which caused her to attack." Emerald said in a terrified voice.

" _Where's Mercury now?"_ Reaper demanded.

" A little hideout in the city, we've kept him there so no one would know that the incident was staged." Emerald explained.

" _Thank you for your cooperation._ " Reaper said, signaling Ripper, who drew a knife.

" Wait, what are you doing?" Emerald said, starting to panic.

" _Writing your legacy... into your skin._ " Ripper said.

Emerald began to scream as the knife cut into her skin, and moving around to spell words. Ripper carved into her skin several words that they could use to describe her: (THIEF, MURDERER, and ANARCHIST), onto both her collarbones and stomach. They ditched her in a warehouse, messaging Cinder over a secure line to avoid being discovered, leaving her chained to a metal column standing in the center of the building. Emerald had lost so much blood as a result of a her injuries. Cinder found her later, taking her to the hospital, denying any knowledge to what the words meant...

" _Hang in there Emerald, I will find the motherfuckers who did this to you and make them pay."_ Cinder thought.

But while she was focused on getting revenge for her student, Xavier and his team attacked the hideout that Mercury resided in, and dragged his unconscious body to Amity...

Amity Stadium

6:40 pm

Mercury awoke dazed and confused about his location, but was only to see Xavier standing in front of him with a large smile on his face...

" You're awake, good." Xavier said.

" What?" Mercury said in a shocked tone.

" We had a little chat with your pal Emerald a while ago." Blaze started.

" She sang like a little canary, telling us everything that your boss is planning." Zach said.

" You were the ones who kidnapped Emerald?" Mercury said, now becoming angry.

" What on Earth makes you think that?" Xavier said in a mocking tone.

" You just told me it." Mercury said.

" Well who's gonna believe you? You're just a murderous kid with prosthetic legs." Alex said.

" Wait, you know?" Mercury said, now realizing where he was.

" That's right bucko, you get to take a walk of shame out onto the arena floor, and face the fury of thousands of angry people." Xavier said.

" No, I won't." Mercury said in a defiant tone.

" Really? Because I think you don't have the right to decide what is done." Blaze said.

" We have the same weaponized song in a music box hidden in her room, primed to cause her to die of cerebral bleeding , we only use it if you don't confess to your crimes in front of the audience." Zach said in a stern tone.

Mercury immediately knew that he was put onto the tip of sword, and he could either flee from it or fall onto it. If were to flee, Emerald would be slain, but if he were to fall, he was going to get arrested by the police for illegally tampering with the matches of the Vytal festival Huntsmen Tournament. With no back doors out of this mess, he was walked out into the arena by the boys, and arrested by Aletian soldiers, and the boys fabricated a cover story that they had found him walking around the arena's maintenance paths. Mercury's arrest made the news, broadcasting on all T.V's across the city, including the T.V in Emerald's hospital room...

" _Breaking news, Haven student Mercury Black was arrested just moments ago for illegal tampering of the matches of the tournament. The young man was apprehended by Beacon Team XBAZ, lead by Xavier Moore, who expressed outrage for Mercury's involvement in the process of illegal tampering. Mercury has been taken to the Aletian prison ship U.S.S Kellogg and is being held pending a trial in the city court. It had been discovered that Black had artificial legs, which we will have more information soon as the story unfolds. In addition, Mercury Black's teammate Neapolitan was arrested after attempting to illegally break into captured criminal Roman Torchwick's cell aboard the Kellogg."_ The reporter said as Cinder watched on.

" Cinder?" Emerald said weakly.

" Hey, how are you feeling?" Cinder asked in a normal tone.

" Like my head has been torn apart." Emerald said.

" Well, the doctors said you did lose a lot of blood." Cinder explained.

" What's happened?" Emerald asked as she noticed Cinder actually looked annoyed.

" Mercury and Neo have been arrested, and those boys are somehow connected." Cinder explained.

" Xavier's team?" Emerald asked.

" I think they also had some role to play in the reason you're here as well." Cinder stated.

" You really think so?" Emerald inquired.

" You are hospitalized on the same day that Mercury is arrested, and they are the ones who exposed him." Cinder said.

" Sounds like too much of a coincidence." Emerald said.

" They are going to regret messing with everything we've built." Cinder said angrily.

Cinder conspired to find a way to take out the boys for their actions in destroying everything they had worked so hard to construct. She then found out that Ironwood had requested volunteers to aid his people in the containment efforts going on in Mountain Glenn, so she sabotaged the plans by modifying them so Team RWBY would be placed into a hot zone and the boys would die in the process of attempting to rescue them from the horde...

" _You boys die here._ " Cinder said to herself.

Beacon Academy transport hub

9:00 am, the next day.

Teams XBAZ, CFVY, RWBY, and JNPR proceeded to board the airship in order to fly to Mountain Glenn with the intent of aiding in the containment efforts of holding the Grimm back from the city walls. They decided to converse with each other while onboard the airship...

" So why'd you guys sign up?" Xavier asked.

" We need some practice in fighting Grimm, so we can be ready for anything." Coco said.

" Why'd you guys get involved?" Yang asked.

" Because we could use the practice." Xavier said in response.

They flew to Mountain Glenn, racing to their positions in order hold back the Grimm...

" Alright guys, attack pattern raven!" Xavier ordered his teammates.

They surged towards their position, which was surrounded by hostile Grimm of all kinds. They slaughtered the hostiles at the location, the ruins of an apartment building, so Xavier immediately jumped on the radio to speak to Ironwood...

" Ironwood, this is XBAZ, we've secured our position." Xavier said.

" _Copy that Xavier, your team is to hold that position until our troopers can take their positions._ " Ironwood instructed.

" _THIS IS TEAM RWBY, WE'RE GETTING SWARMED._ " Ruby screamed into the radio.

RWBY began broadcasting a distress call everyone had heard on the entire channel...

" Ruby, what's happening?" Xavier asked.

" _Our position is getting overrun, Look out Blake! They're coming at us from everywhere!"_ Ruby exclaimed.

" _Hang in there kids, reinforcements are on the way!"_ Ironwood responded.

" Ironwood, we're close, we can go and get them." Xavier said.

" _No, you need to hold that area!"_ Ironwood said.

" There's no Grimm here! We don't do anything now, our friends will die!" Xavier exclaimed.

" _The soldiers will handle it, they're already on their way!"_ Ironwood said.

" Your soldiers...ARE TOO DAMN FAR AWAY!" Xavier shouted angrily.

" _Stay put!"_ Ironwood said before hanging up.

Xavier immediately got angry at Ironwood who was going to prevent them from going to rescue their friends. He thought about his options, but came to an immediate solution...

" Fuck this, we're going to help them." Xavier said.

" Damn straight." Alex said.

The boys immediately took off from their position, racing to the aid of their friends who were in grave danger. They took a shortcut through a building, coming across a long trench, seeing Weiss, Ruby, and Blake backed against a wall.

" Hang on, guys!" Xavier screamed.

" Hurry!" Blake screamed back.

They immediately raced to the area above the girls, quickly pulling each of them out of the trench, one by one. But Ruby wouldn't leave as something was keeping her in the trench, so Xavier immediately jumped down to see what the issue was...

" What's wrong, Ruby?" Xavier asked.

" It's Yang! She's trapped and getting overwhelmed!" Ruby exclaimed.

" Where?" Xavier said.

" Over there!" Ruby exclaimed, pointing over towards where Yang is.

Xavier immediately became conflicted about what should be done, but he made up his mind quicker than Ruby expected...

" Fuck, Blaze, take her, I'm going to get Yang!" Xavier said.

" Wait, what?" Blaze said, confused.

Xavier had immediately taken off into the trench, carving his way through Grimm to get to his trapped friend. He pressed on, not faltering from the task that had lain ahead of him, but a Beowolf slammed its razor talon claws into the left side of his face, severely damaging his left eye...

" OW! You son-a-bitch! You'll pay for that!" Xavier exclaimed, chopping its head off in one swing.

Xavier hadn't anticipated his aura to be seriously low, but he pressed on regardless of this vulnerability. He pressed on, slaying Grimm that crossed his path between him and Yang. When he had finally gotten to her, she was in even worse shape than Xavier was. Her combat clothes were drenched in crimson, blood slowly trickled down the sides of her mouth, her long golden hair was now cut short, as large amounts of her hair was seen in the paws of dead Grimm around her.

" Xavier?" She said weakly.

" Hang in there Yang, I got ya!" Xavier said.

Xavier began to immediately drag Yang into a nearby building, when an immense pain shot up his right arm. He looked to see an Ursa biting down hard on his right arm, which caused him to scream out in pain. The mark on Xavier's left hand began to glow brightly, with light shining through the spaces between his fingers. He raised his clenched fist above the Ursa, screaming something at the top of his lungs...

" GO TO HELL!" Xavier screamed.

He slammed the fist down onto the Ursa's head with the force of an atom bomb, in which it caused an explosion that was so bright that it was even seen by the people in the city. The shockwave knocked everyone that was nearby back. While Blaze and the others where getting onto their feet, Team CFVY, had just turned the corner to see what was going on...

" What the hell was that?" Coco said, helping Ruby up.

" Xavier went back into the trench in order to rescue Yang, then that explosion happened." Ruby said.

" LOOK!" Velvet exclaimed.

They looked through the smoke to where Velvet was pointing, only to be horrified by the sight. They saw Xavier soaked in blood, with his right arm completely gone, and Yang coated in her own blood. They immediately raced over to their injured friends, with Blake calling into her radio...

" I need an emergency medevac for two injured volunteers at my location now!" Blake said.

They leaned Yang up against a fallen column, and they each tried to tend to the wounds of their injured compatriots...

" How is she?" Coco asked.

" We need to get her out of here." Ruby said as her voice started to break.

"Hey, we will." Coco said in a calming tone. " Hang in there Yang, we got ya." She added.

They eventually overheard Blaze arguing with Ironwood over the radio...

" _Sackett, why the hell did your team abandon your position? "_ Ironwood demanded.

" IRONWOOD, WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY IS NOT IMPORTANT AS THE SITUATION IS RIGHT NOW, SO SHUT THE HELL UP, AND GET ME A GODDAMN MEDEVAC AT MY LOCATION, NOW!" Blaze exclaimed.

They continued to make attempts to stop the bleeding, until airship ambulances arrived to pick up the wounded. They were in the middle of loading the injured kids into the ships, one of the paramedics walked over to the panicking students...

" We got a full house on the boy's ambulance, but we have some extra room on the girl's." The paramedic said.

" You can take one more?" Blake asked.

" Yes." The Paramedic said.

" Then, I'll go." Blake responded.

" She's my sister, Blake, I should be the one to go." Ruby said.

" Your Uncle doesn't know about what had happened, it'll be better that he hears it from you than me or Weiss." Blake said.

" Okay." Ruby said as tears were rolling down her eyes.

Ruby walked with Velvet over to the airship back to the school, Blake turned to Weiss and began to speak...

" Take care of her, would ya?" Blake said.

" Sure." Weiss said.

Blake boarded the ambulance that had Yang onboard, while Weiss boarded the airship back to Beacon. The three ships took off in different directions, the airship arrived back at Beacon, and the kids were approached by Goodwitch and Qrow...

" Are you kids alright? General Ironwood said there was an incident, but he didn't go into detail." Goodwitch said.

Qrow immediately realized something was wrong as there were tears streaming down his youngest niece's face, and she was being consoled by Weiss as they were walking up. He immediately pushed through the crowd of kids and stopped still in front of Ruby, placing his hand on her shoulder...

" What happened, kiddo?" Qrow asked.

" ( _Voice breaking)_ It's Yang." Ruby said as she was starting to cry.

Qrow immediately pulled his niece close as she cried in fear over the fact her sister has been severely injured. Weiss immediately noticed that Qrow was physically and emotionally shaken by what his young niece had just told him. She immediately thought to herself and asking herself a simple question...

" _If my sister knows him, why were we the first into hell?_ " Weiss thought to herself, as Ozpin walked up to her.

" Miss Schnee, what happened?" Ozpin asked in a concerned tone.

" Our position got overrun, and both Xavier and Yang got hurt." Weiss explained.

" Xavier's been injured as well?" Ozpin said.

" Yeah, he lost his entire right arm." Weiss explained.

Ironwood was walking up to see what was wrong, fearing the worst, but Ozpin turned towards the hardened General with a look of anger in his face...

" Oz, I can explain." Ironwood said before Ozpin struck him with his cane.

" YOU ATTEMPT TO ENLIST MY STUDENTS FOR DANGEROUS ASSIGNMENTS EVER AGAIN, I WILL NOT HESITATE TO FIGHT YOU MYSELF." Ozpin said angrily.

 **This chapter concludes with Yang and Xavier being hospitalized for their injuries, and Qrow becomes visibly shaken by the news that Ruby has told him, and Ozpin is angry at Ironwood. The next chapter introduces Ashlyn's past, Dante discovers the Changeling's existence after one of his associates is killed, and plenty of Bumblebee to go around as a recovering Yang spends the day with Blake. Templar and Shadow is going to start getting a little more darker from here, so readers discretion is advised.**

 **WAIT AND SEE.**


	9. Chapter 9: Repairing the broken

Chapter 9: Rebuilding the broken.

Mistral Forests

9:30 pm

4 years ago...

In a small clearing in the large forests of mistral, a cabin was burning and a young girl was crying over the dead body of an older man. But this girl wasn't ordinary, as tears were not flowing down her face, but it was actually oil. Her hands were actually made from blackened metal, ticking gears were seen inside them. This girl was actually a clockwork android, with advanced upgrades to her system, and an actual human heart in her metal torso. While she sat there crying, a young wolf-Faunus girl and her brother were walking up to her, which immediately alarmed her...

" Whoa, relax girl." The brother said.

" Why are you here? Did you come here just to stare at the freak?" The girl asked.

" Neither of us are calling you a freak." The sister explained.

" Then why are you here?" The girl demanded.

" We're just looking for William Shepard." The Brother said.

" He's right there." The girl said, pointing to the dead body.

" That's the legendary inventor?" The Brother said.

" If he's Shepard, then who are you?" The sister asked.

" The daughter that he couldn't let go of." The girl said.

" Holy shit, he actually did it." The Brother said in a shocked tone.

" Yes, I'm not human." The girl said, raising her oil-smeared hands.

" Sis, do you know what this is?" The Brother asked.

" I know what she is, Salazar." The sister said in an angered response.

" Reina, we are currently standing before a clockwork android with actual human traits." Salazar said.

" You don't have to talk as if I am not here." The girl exclaimed.

" What's your name, girl?" Reina asked.

" Ashlyn, Ashlyn Shepard." The girl said.

" Well Ashlyn, why don't come with us?" Reina asked.

( _Fast Forward._ )

Diamond Towers, Vale.

1:30 pm

2 years before the Breach.

" _Honey, I'm back."_ Reina said.

" _Reina, no!"_ Torchwick exclaimed.

" _AHHH!_ " Reina screamed.

Ashlyn entered the apartment where she saw Reina on the floor, severely burned and lapsed into a seizure, with Roman beside her, freaking out over what had just happened to his girlfriend. She was wearing dark blue jeans, black leather gloves, and a dark blue hoodie with a red shirt under it. She immediately rushed to Reina's side, then looked to Roman...

" What the hell did you do?" Ashlyn demanded.

" I, set the trap for a hitman that was coming for me, but she accidentally walked into it." Roman said, still freaking out.

" You set a fucking acid trap?! Salazar's gonna kill you!" Ashlyn said.

They continued to argue over the fact that Roman had managed to get possession of an illegal acid trap, without Salazar had just walked into the doorway...

" Sister?" Salazar said in a shocked tone.

" _Oh, shit._ " Ashlyn said to herself at a low volume.

" Salazar, I can explain." Roman started.

" Ashlyn, take my sister down to the lobby and call for paramedics, I need to have a little chat with Roman." Salazar said, starting to sound angry.

" Okay sir." Ashlyn said.

Ashlyn scoped Reina up into her arms, carrying her out of the room, and bumping into two other residents along the way, an older man and a young rabbit-Faunus with black hair...

" Oh my god, what happened?" The older man said as he rushed over to help.

" Her boyfriend was tinkering with his chemistry set, but it got out of hand." Ashlyn said.

" What was he doing, tinkering with acid?" The Faunus girl asked.

" Yeah, his jug of the stuff exploded on her." Ashlyn said as Reina started gasping for air.

" I don't she can breathe right now." The older man pointed out.

As they raced to help her, they heard Salazar angrily shouting and striking Roman repeatedly, so they continued to rush Reina down to the lobby for medical help. Overtime, she began her information dealing business in the form of the Blossom Club, with Ashlyn becoming her personal agent and her brother becoming her chief of security. While the events taking place in Remnant unfolded, Dante was about to discover an enemy that was the perfect predator...

Outside His place, Brewerton.

2:15 pm

Dante was messing around outside in the snow as a way to kill the time since he had gotten home from school. He was going to hang out with his associate, Chance, but he was a no-show, which greatly angered him. But along the way, he met a girl who was so pretty that his jaw dropped to the ground...

" Um, Hello?" Dante said.

" Hi, I'm Victoria." The girl said.

" I'm Dante." Dante said.

" Why are you standing outside in the cold by yourself?" Victoria asked.

" I'm just waiting for a friend who was going to hang out with me today." Dante responded.

" Is this friend of yours named Chance?" Victoria asked.

" Yes, how do you know him?" Dante inquired.

" I saw him a while ago, wanted me to tell you he's gonna be a bit late." Victoria said.

" So I've been freezing my ass off for nothing?" Dante said in an annoyed tone.

" Heh, that's funny." Victoria said before walking away.

Dante was about to walk back inside the apartment when a foul smell caught the attention of his nose. It smelled as if something died and had been left out to rot, so he decided to check it out...

" _What the hell is that smell?_ " Dante thought to himself.

He traced it to be coming from behind the building, so he trudged through knee-deep snow towards the back of the building. But he was only half-way to the back when he saw a trail of blood, scarlet blood soaking into the snow. He went around the blood so it wouldn't soak into his pants, but the sight he had seen was horrifying when he looked up. He saw the mutilated body of Chance, leaning up against the building with his torso torn wide open, which immediately caused him to vomit. He immediately turned around to see Victoria standing there, but she was smiling like she was pleased with the fact that Chance was dead, but when she blinked, it was revealed that her eyes were glowing blood red. Dante immediately knew that this girl wasn't human...

" _What the hell are you?_ " Dante thought as she walked away.

" Oh, I know what she is." A female voice said behind them.

Dante spun around to see Raven Branwen standing behind him, studying Chance's corpse...

" Who are you?" Dante asked.

" My name is Raven Branwen, and I am currently tracking the Changeling that murdered your friend." Raven explained.

" Changeling?" Dante said.

" It's a shapeshifter Grimm, able to take the form of the race it is hunting." Raven said.

" You're saying a Grimm brutalized my friend here?" Dante said.

" Yes, this Grimm has been sent to this world to wipe out the families and friends of the four boys who are now residents of Remnant." Raven said.

" Wait, what?" Dante said in a shocked tone.

" Your friends had sabotaged the plans of a criminal mastermind who has been conspiring against the people of Remnant, even went as far enough to have both of her disciples arrested for the illegal tampering of the matches of the Vytal Festival Huntsman tournament." Raven said.

" They must have had too much free time on their hands." Dante said.

" Well, she retaliated by sending them into a trap that left one of the boys and my daughter seriously injured. They're both residing in the hospital right now." Raven explained.

" Was the guy's name Xavier?" Dante asked, realizing what she was talking about.

" Yes." Raven said.

" Then, you gonna have quite a story to tell me." Dante said.

While Raven was talking to him, a relationship was about to begin between a broken individual and her closest friend...

Vale General Hospital

1 week after the Mountain Glenn incident.

8:30 am

Blake sat in Yang's hospital room, watching over her injured friend as she had lain motionless in a hospital bed following the injuries she had received when she was in Mountain Glenn. She had scrolled through channels on the T.V, passing by news articles that stated Ironwood was under fire following the incident, while a nurse walked into the room carrying a tray that had two apples on a small plate, and a pitcher of water and some disposable cups.

" I've brought the items you asked for." The Nurse said.

" You can set the tray right here." Blake said, clearing a side table of get well cards from their friends up at Beacon.

" Okay." The Nurse responded, setting the tray down.

The Nurse set the tray down, the exited the room, leaving Blake alone with her closest friend. She immediately picked up the knife and the first apple, skinned it and chopped it to pieces, then doing the same for the second one. When she heard Yang make a sound...

" Ummm." Yang said.

" You awake?" Blake said, setting the knife down.

Blake then proceeded to help her sit up, placing one arm on her lower back to help her sit up. Yang's breaths sounded dry and heavy...

" Do you need anything?" Blake asked.

" Water." Yang said in a raspy voice.

" Sure, do you think you can hold the cup by yourself?" Blake said, pouring water into a cup.

" Yes." Yang said, taking the cup with a trembling hand.

Yang gulped down the water carefully as her throat hurt, so Blake picked the plate of apple pieces and held it out to her wounded partner...

" Are you hungry?" Blake said.

" Yes." Yang said in response.

Blake set the plate onto Yang's lap, and Yang immediately started to eat the apple pieces without stopping, so she chose to ask Blake what had happened while she was out...

" So, how have things been since I was out cold?" Yang asked.

" Things have been a bit hectic after you and Xavier got hospitalized." Blake started.

" Wait, Xavier's been hospitalized?" Yang asked in a surprised tone.

" Yeah, he got hurt bad trying to get you out of the trench." Blake said.

" How's the guys, Ruby? Weiss? Xavier's Team?" Yang inquired.

" Ruby and your uncle have been a bit of an emotional wreck, so Weiss has been taking care of Ruby, and Xavier's team has been rather...different." Blake said.

" How different?" Yang asked.

" It's like, Xavier's hospitalization awoke something in them as they all of a sudden began to dominate in the arena. They aren't fighting like a bunch of brawlers, but like an effective military unit, not using any easy loopholes like someone who is taking the harder right instead of the easier wrong." Blake said.

" How long have I been out?" Yang asked.

" You've been out cold for an entire week." Blake responded.

" An entire week?" Yang said in a shocked tone.

" Yeah, you lost a lot of blood in the incident and lapsed into a small coma." Blake explained.

" Was I really that hurt?" Yang asked.

" You were nearly buried alive by the Grimm that had swarmed you." Blake said.

" How bad was Xavier hurt?" Yang inquired.

" The doctors said that he won't be able to use his left eye anymore, plus he lost his entire right arm." Blake explained.

" He was hurt that bad?" Yang said in a shocked tone.

" Yeah, they have him in an induced coma so he doesn't go into shock." Blake said.

Yang immediately noticed in the reflection of the T.V in the room that her hair was not so long anymore...

" What the hell happened to my hair?" Yang said, now starting to realize what had happened.

" Oh, we found a lot of clumps of your hair in the claws of a couple of different Grimm." Blake said.

" Oh well." Yang simply responded.

" Oh well?" Blake said in a confused tone.

" My long hair must have clearly been the reason I had gotten so hurt, it made me easy to grab." Yang figured.

" Well, right now it looks like a short mess and uneven. Can you walk?" Blake said.

" I think so, because I really have to use the bathroom." Yang said.

" I'm gonna be by your side, every step of the way." Blake said.

Yang sat on the edge of the bed with Blake's help, then stood up carefully. She was a little shaky, so she decided to lean on Blake for safety, and Blake aided her on her walk to the bathroom. After her business was done, Blake helped her lie back down in the bed, getting her back under the covers, then proceeded to inform the attending doctor that Yang was awake. The attending doctor was a young woman, about in her mid-20's, long red hair, bright blue eyes, and was wearing a blue shirt with a tan skirt underneath her doctor's coat.

" Hello Miss Xiao Long, how are you feeling today?" The woman asked.

"Well, I'm feeling a bit sore, Doc." Yang explained.

" After what you have been through, I am not surprised." The woman said.

" So what's got to be done today?" Blake asked.

" Well, she's got some examinations to undergo, and we've got to make some arrangements with a physical therapist so she can overcome the soreness." The woman said.

" What comes after that?" Yang said.

" Then, you're free to leave." The woman said.

" I'll go pick up some clothes for you while your getting checked out. See you when I get back." Blake said.

" Okay." Yang said.

Blake took off from the hospital, venturing back to Beacon to pick up some clothes for Yang for when she could be released. She picked the outfit that Yang wore when they had taken down that robot Roman had taken control of that one evening. She exited Beacon, but crossed paths with Professor Ozpin at the transport hub where the transport to the city was waiting...

" Hello, Miss Belladonna." Ozpin said.

" Oh, hello, Professor Ozpin." Blake said.

" I see you picked up some of Yang's things." Ozpin said, looking at the bag.

" Yeah, she's awake, the doctors said she could be released today after some examinations." Blake explained.

" That's good to hear." Ozpin said in response.

" Is there a supposed reason you wanted to talk to me?" Blake inquired.

" I just wanted to see what you were up to, take care." Ozpin said before walking away.

She then boarded the transport then rode it down to the city, returning to the hospital where Yang had just completed her examinations with her doctor and made the arrangements with a physical therapist. She was just sitting on the bed in her room when Blake walked in...

" You made it, what took you so long?" Yang asked.

" I had a little run-in with Ozpin, he was just curious to see how you were doing." Blake said.

" Oh, that was nice of him." Yang said.

" Anyway, here's some stuff, I had to get your backup uniform since your primary got torn up." Blake explained.

" It's alright, I always liked the backup." Yang said.

Blake waited out in the room while Yang got dressed in the bathroom, subtly groaning as she was still sore from the damage done to her by the Grimm. After getting dressed, she and Blake exited the hospital, proceeding to a nearby café so Yang could get some food in her system besides the apples she had back in the hospital. Blake ordered an ice tea and a salad, while Yang ordered a burger with a side of fries and a large glass of _People like Grapes._

" So, Ruby has been an emotional wreck since I was hospitalized?" Yang asked.

" Yeah, seeing you hurt that bad hit her pretty hard." Blake responded, taking a bite of her salad.

" I see." Yang said.

" Anyway, eat up, then I'm thinking about giving you a haircut when we get back to school, just to make it even." Blake said.

" I would like that." Yang responded.

They finished up their meals, then proceeded to the transport hub to catch a ship back to Beacon. Nobody was present at the time as the entire student body was at the arena for the tournament, so Blake and Yang proceeded to the dorm room. Blake picked up a pair of styling scissors that Weiss had left out per her request, and began cutting Yang's hair...

" Hey, Yang?" Blake asked.

" Yeah?" Yang responded.

" Why are you having me give you a haircut?" Blake said.

" I don't want what happened in Mountain Glenn to happen ever again, plus..." Yang started.

" Yes?" Blake said, curious.

" I really like it when you touch my hair." Yang said.

" My pleasure. By the way..." Blake said.

" Yeah, partner?" Yang said.

" Your uncle and Ruby are up at the arena, you want to surprise them after this?" Blake asked.

" Sure." Yang said with a chuckle.

Amity Stadium, row 115 arena side.

9:50 am

Qrow was sitting with Ruby and Weiss, watching Penny and her teammate Ciel toppled their opponents in the match. Ruby was about to go down to congratulate her friend on a fight well done when Blake was seen walking down the steps...

" Blake? I thought you were at the hospital, staying by Yang's side." Ruby said.

" What's up, kid?" Qrow asked in a serious tone.

" Her." Blake said before whistling up the steps.

Yang knew that it was her queue to enter the scene, so turned the corner and walked down the steps, leaving her uncle and Ruby speechless with tears of joy welling up in their eyes.

" Yang?" Ruby said as her voice began to break.

" Hey, sis." Yang said with a big smile on her face.

Ruby hopped over the seat into the row behind her, then ran up to her sister and hugged her tightly, crying tears of excitement. Qrow immediately brushed past Blake and joined in on the hug, crying the same as Ruby was. This was a great thing to happen to Yang, until she realized her entire torso was starting to feel sore...

 **This chapter concludes with the past of Ashlyn is revealed, as it turns out her creator made her as a way to bring his daughter back from the dead, but she killed him after an argument. Dante discovers one of his own friends dead and learns the existence of the Changeling from a chat with Raven Branwen. Finally, Yang has awoken from her comatose state following the Mountain Glenn incident, had a nice meal with Blake after being released from the hospital, got a haircut and decided to keep her hair short from now on, and had a happy reunion with her sister, uncle, and fellow teammate Weiss. The next chapter begins with a continuation of the reunion as the friends come into play, Penny makes a new friend and they begin to build something for the injured Xavier. But something dark awaits Mercury, as a secret weapon of the Vanguard is unveiled.**

 **WAIT AND SEE.**


	10. Chapter 10: Metal and Flesh

Chapter 10: Metal and Flesh

Research Facility Deimos

Owner: The Blossom Club

Southern Vale

10:00 pm

The previous evening...

What the world didn't know about the Blossom club was that its leader didn't just sell secrets, she even sold power. Hidden behind the organization's social appearances and secret information trading network, was a network of shell companies, technology firms, spies, assassins, scientists that varied in their skill sets (ranging from genetics to biotechnologies), and even mining companies. They had the monopoly on a very rare metal known only as Diveridium, a metal that could not be magnetized or destroyed easily, a metal that when cooled is physically indestructible. But on this evening, one of Reina's personal cyborg soldiers, Commander Erwin Carson, had arrived to "check up" on a special project of the staff's at Deimos. The doors to a secret elevator opened up, and Carson was greeted by a man that was shorter than him, and a cyborg as well...

" Commander Carson, this inspection is surprising." The man said.

" Salazar's orders, he wants me to make sure Project Hades is up to snuff, Doctor Bordeaux ." Carson explained.

" Well then, please follow me." Bordeaux said, directing the commander to the elevator.

The two men rode the elevator down, seeing exactly what the inside of the Deimos facility looked like. It was massive, scientists worked around the clock, to manufacture new tools to aid the Vanguard's soldiers in the field. But Project Hades was nothing like what the scientists were normally doing...

" The subjects' behavior is mostly that of a Grimm's, primal and savage." Bordeaux said.

" So I assume you found a way to keep them under control?" Carson asked.

" Yes, we conditioned their brains to respond to a signal that gives us the power to influence their actions." Bordeaux stated. " They've even developed a pack, which symbolizes an even low level intelligence." He added.

" No doctor, it symbolizes they have developed animal-like instincts, which means they are even trainable." Carson explained.

" I see, but you'll seen them in just a minute." Bordeaux said.

The elevator stopped on Project Hades' level, a level that was dimly lit so someone can't see what was being developed without the proper clearance to do so. Carson and Bordeaux entered a large room where Rooker, a lab assistant, was sitting at a console next to a large Window that viewed into an enormous room...

" Rooker, how are the hunters doing?" Bordeaux asked.

" They're just wrapping up dinner now. Big momma Ursa was on the chef's menu this evening." Rooker explained.

" Ursa, that's a rough meat." Bordeaux said.

" You're feeding these things Grimm?" Carson said in a surprised tone.

" Grimm meat maybe toxic to humans, but not to them." Bordeaux explained.

" Go ahead, see for yourself, sir." Rooker said, directing him towards the window.

Carson carefully approached the Window, looking into a large room where sat the mutilated remains of an Ursa, being fed upon by four individuals that appeared Cybernetically enhanced. Their skin was pale, eyes were bloodshot red, but it was their mouths that had attracted the attention of Carson. Their mouths were replaced with metallic jaws, lined with double rows of serrated teeth, soaked by the blood of their most recent meal. One de-cloaked itself in front of the window, right in front of Carson...

" Whoa, startled me didn't ya?" Carson said.

" That's the alpha, he likes to be sneaky." Bordeaux explained.

" They're perfect, Salazar is gonna be pleased." Carson stated.

" By the way, why does he need five hunters?" Bordeaux asked.

" Because he's got an assignment that's a challenge, so he'll need the best." Carson responded.

Carson then proceeded to instruct the doctor to forward any information about the "hunters" as they were referred to as, to Salazar for his assignment development. His assignment: Punish Mercury Black for his involvement in Cinder's plans...

Amity Stadium

Present Day

Yang was being hugged tightly by her uncle and sister, who were excited over the fact she was now walking around and had pulled through the horrific damage done to her just over a week ago in Mountain Glenn. But Yang was actually still sore...

" Um guys, can you let up?" Yang said.

" Oh, sorry." Ruby said, drying her tears of joy.

" What's wrong kid?" Qrow asked.

" Docs said I'm gonna be sore for awhile, so you can still hug, just not super tightly." Yang explained.

" Okay, we'll have some details to talk about in a bit." Qrow said.

Blake helped Yang sit down, with Ruby immediately taking the seat next to her and getting ready to watch the match between Team JNPR and Team BRNZ. After the match, Team RWBY proceeded down to greet their friends after a successful match, with Yang taking cover to surprise them.

" You guys were great!" Ruby said.

" You really think so?" Jaune asked.

" Well, argument aside, you guys weren't bad." Weiss said.

" Oh, Weiss." Ruby remarked.

" Anyway, did you hear anything about your sister's progress?" Pyrrah asked.

" Well..." Ruby said before turning around and whistling.

Yang came out from around the corner, with Team JNPR looking towards her with surprise...

" Hey guys." Yang said with a big smile on her face.

" Oh my god, Yang!" Pyrrah said as she rushed up and hugged Yang.

" YANG!" Nora said with excitement as she ran up as well.

" Don't hug her to tightly, she's still sore from the incident." Blake explained.

" Okay." Pyrrah said.

They hugged Yang as they were joined by Ren and Jaune, who each had their own hug with Yang before backing off...

" So, how long are you gonna not be fighting?" Ren asked.

" Doctors said I am going to be out for at least a couple of weeks." Yang explained.

" Oh, my." Jaune said.

" Do you have an idea to ease the pain from being sore?" Pyrrah asked.

" Yeah, the doctors have got me scheduled to attend therapy sessions with a very good physical therapist." Yang stated.

" Ren might know a thing or two about relaxing sore muscles." Nora said.

" Really?" Yang said in a shocked tone.

" Yeah, he helped me deal with my sore muscles after I swung _Magnhild_ to hard one time." Nora said.

" Are you referring to the time you swung your hammer at that girl because she made fun of your hair?" Ren asked.

" I don't what you're talking about Ren, but combine his stuff with the therapy sessions, Yang, you'll won't have to worry about soreness anymore." Nora said.

" She was only 12 years old Nora." Ren said, with Nora realizing what he was talking about. " Aside from that part of the talk, I might show you a few things in your free time." He added.

" Thanks man." Yang said.

" I noticed you got a hair cut." Jaune pointed out.

" Well, the Grimm tried to give me one." Yang said sarcastically.

" Heh, that's a good point." Ruby added.

" Anyway, Blake fixed the mess it was left in this morning." Yang said.

" Hey, you can thank Weiss for the scissors." Blake added.

" Thanks for reminding me Blake. Anyway, I was planning on keeping it like this from now on." Yang stated.

" That's probably a good idea." Jaune said.

While they were talking, Penny was walking along with General Ironwood towards the exit when she turned and saw Yang...

" YANG!" Penny hollered as she ran up.

" Whoa, good to see you kid." Yang said.

" Yang?" Ironwood asked in a shocked tone.

" Hey, General." Yang said.

" Can I speak to Miss Xiao Long alone for a bit, everyone?" Ironwood asked.

" Sure, I'll be nearby in case anything happens, okay?" Blake said to Yang.

Ironwood and Yang went over to the railing, looking down into the arena where the next match was being set up. Yang noticed that Ironwood looked fatigued, as there were darkened bags under his eyes and he let out a large breath when he leaned against the railing...

" What's up, General? You look a little beat." Yang said.

" Well, you were in worse shape." Ironwood said.

" True." Yang responded.

" Ugh, I've been dealing with press calls, threatening messages, and people calling me someone who sends "innocent kids to the grinder." Ironwood said.

" What happened in Mountain Glenn has hit you that hard?" Yang asked in a surprised tone.

" Yeah, even Ozpin was angry at me." Ironwood said.

" How was Professor Ozpin angry at you?" Yang asked.

" After Ruby told him, Qrow, and Goodwitch about what happened in Mountain Glenn, he was furious at me for what had happened to you and Xavier." Ironwood explained.

" Man, that's rough." Yang said.

" Yeah, he said that I "broke my promise" as I promised him that the kids were going to be safe. But instead, You and Xavier ended up being hospitalized." Ironwood said in a dismayed tone.

" Yeah, turns out that it wasn't your fault." A voice said behind him.

They both turned around to see Zach standing behind them, _Maddening strife_ resting at his side. He was wearing his back up uniform, which was an armored red and white leather jacket, with high tech gloves, armored black pants, and white and blue greaves, since his primary had gotten damaged in Mountain Glenn.

" Hey Yang, good to see that you're up and about." Zach said.

" Good to see you too, Zach." Yang responded.

" What did you mean I wasn't at fault?" Ironwood asked.

" Well, after they whisked Xavier off to the hospital, I began to get this feeling, like someone had intended us to head into danger." Zach started in a classic storyteller tone.

" What do you mean?" Yang asked.

" Like his plan wasn't his own at all." Zach said.

" You think the placement plan was sabotaged?" Ironwood figured.

" Oh it was." Zach said in an assured tone.

" Wait, what?" Both Ironwood and Yang said.

" I asked around your soldiers for a bit, until one of them that you showed the original plan to showed me what it was." Zach said. " It was actually pretty smart, putting the volunteers closer to the city wall, it would have given them more cover and places to be safe should the Grimm target them." He said.

" Your plan was sabotaged?" Yang said as she turned to Ironwood.

" Oh, the pissing-you-off train isn't gonna stop here." Zach said in a sarcastic tone.

" There's more?!" Ironwood said, starting to sound angry.

" Oh the train has stopped for you, this bad news is for her." Zach said, pointing to Yang.

" What do you mean?" Yang asked.

" My team was the real target Yang, you and your teammates were the bait for the trap." Zach said in a serious tone.

This had left Yang and Ironwood speechless and furious: Ironwood's plan was turned into a trap that was set for Xavier's team, placing Team RWBY in danger as bait. While they were talking things over, Penny was about to make a new friend...

Amity Stadium Transport hub

General Ironwood's personal transport

9:59 am

Penny had slipped away from the group, sneaking back to Ironwood's airship, where she pulled out a tablet she had been hiding behind one of the seats. She pulled up an app on it, in which it had shown the blueprints to a robotic arm. It was running calculations about it successfully melding with human physiology, but came up with a result that seemed to annoy Penny...

" Oh, drat." Penny said.

" Tablet having issues?" Ashlyn asked.

Penny looked up with a startled stance to see Ashlyn standing in the doorway of the airship, but Penny thought she was a random stranger...

" Gah, who are you?" Penny immediately asked.

" Hey, relax kid, I might be able to help." Ashlyn said in a calming tone.

" It's just a-" Penny said, nervously.

" Math equation? Trust me, I had the same issue awhile back." Ashlyn said.

" You shouldn't be here, General Ironwood is gonna get furious that some stranger is on his ship." Penny said.

" I'm surprised that an Atlas-made android is actually worried." Ashlyn said.

" No ( _hiccup_ ) I'm not an android." Penny said.

" Heh, you would make a terrible poker player." Ashlyn said.

Penny asked Ashlyn to shut the door, in which she did so...

" So, how do you know I'm an android?" Penny demanded.

" We don't have to hide our true selves from each other." Ashlyn said, removing one of her gloves.

" What?" Penny said in a shocked tone.

" This isn't a prosthetic, I'm not a real girl either." Ashlyn said.

" You're an android too?" Penny asked in an excited tone.

" Not just any android, do you hear that ticking?" Ashlyn said in a humored tone.

"( _Gasp_ ) You're a clockwork android?" Penny said.

" That's right." Ashlyn said.

Penny was rendered speechless by the being that had stood before her: a living, breathing clockwork android that had actual human emotions. Ashlyn then looked to Penny's tablet, which had shown the same error message again...

" What have you been trying to figure out?" Ashlyn inquired.

" I've been designing an artificial limb for a friend who is in the hospital, but I'm trying to get the right sequencing so his body won't reject it." Penny explained.

" That's nice of you." Ashlyn said.

" Yeah, but the sequencing algorithm can't be calculated properly." Penny said in annoyance.

" Why don't I give it a try?" Ashlyn said in a cocksure tone.

" Be my guest." Penny said, handing Ashlyn the tablet.

Ashlyn looked over the tablet, punched in a couple of numbers at several different times, hummed " _Red like_ _Roses_ " throughout the entire antagonizing process, then handed the tablet back to Penny. Penny looked down at the tablet after taking it, only to be amazed that Ashlyn had managed to get the exact sequencing algorithm that she had sought after in only just a few minutes.

" How did?" Penny said in a confused tone.

" You modern day robotic models are more about force than processing power." Ashlyn said in a cocky tone.

" Sometimes force is a powerful aspect." Penny said.

" Well, equal balance of both force and processing can be the key to many great victories." Ashlyn said before walking off the airship.

Penny was left on the airship to ponder the words that Ashlyn had told her, so Ashlyn took off into the city and she walked along its winding streets until somebody threw her in front of a large metal truck...

" _Goddamnit._ " Ashlyn thought.

The assailant turned out to be Emerald, who was walking up with a big smile on her face. She walked over to Ashlyn's busted remains, which her gears were scattered all over the street, oil and blood had soaked onto the street, tubes had been all over the street, her left arm was busted off and her right arm was a complete mess.

" Goodbye, tin girl." Emerald said.

" _Oh..."_ Ashlyn said.

" What?" Emerald said in a surprised tone.

" _Oh..._ Really?" Ashlyn said as her metallic arm shot up and grabbed Emerald's throat.

Emerald was gasping for air as the cold, metal hand was wrapped tightly around her throat. The arm smacked her head onto the metal fender of the truck, causing her to stand up in pain, struggling to get the metal arm off her throat. She noticed that the other arm had reassembled itself, as it shoved some rolling gears along back to Ashlyn's pieces, which had Emerald shocked...

" Are (choking) you freaking kidding me?!" Emerald said.

" _I know, it's_ (reattaching her jaw and voice box) like clockwork." Ashlyn said.

" Did you just make a pun?" Emerald said, holding the arm back.

" Alright! Just give that arm to me." Ashlyn said, taking the separate arm with the attached arm.

After reattaching the arm, Ashlyn then proceeded to deck Emerald in the face as the damaged skin that covered her Diveridium body began to repair itself thanks to the Nano-repair system that Reina had activated in her.

" Why'd the hell did you push me in front of that goddamn truck?" Ashlyn demanded as she picked up Emerald.

" Cinder knew you were keeping tabs on us, so she wanted me to get you out of the way." Emerald said in a panicked tone.

" So you thought that causing the driver of that big rig to need to use his medical insurance was the way to go?" Ashlyn asked.

Before Emerald could speak, Ashlyn angrily threw her into a dumpster that was behind a pet grooming store...

" That's how you take out the trash." Ashlyn said before walking away.

Emerald climbed out of the dumpster, covered in animal fur and lotion, shampoo, and conditioner that was left over inside bottles. She did a walk of shame back to Beacon to get a shower, but something dark was going to happen to her partner the following night...

U.S.S _Penitence_ Prison bay

8:30 pm

Mercury sat in his cell aboard the Aletian ship U.S.S _Penitence,_ awaiting to be delivered into the city for his court hearing. He was immediately brought here after his arrest, wanting to deal with the pending charges of illegally tampering with the arena matches and illegal falsification of his medical records. He simply tossed a bouncy ball back and fourth, until the door to his cell mysteriously opened...

" _Well, this must be my lucky day._ " Mercury thought.

He set the ball down and walked out of his cell, with the first thing he had seen had been the guards were incapacitated by what had appeared to be an unknown assailant. He heard heavy breathing, then proceeded to turn around only to see nobody there. This actually started to alarm him, as he continued to see the hunters torment him at every step, until the Alpha appeared behind him, growling very lowly...

" What the?" Mercury said as he slowly turned around.

The Alpha swung at him, but he quickly jumped backward to avoid it. He looked at the alpha, not noticing the others sneaking up alongside him, until they started attacking him. He fought them off with simple hand to hand tactics, until one knocked him out from behind. He woke up restrained in a cage, with Carson twirling a knife in his robotic hands...

" Ah, you're awake." Carson said.

" Erwin Carson, I thought Cinder blew your arms off and left you to die in a ditch." Mercury said.

" It's Commander, by the way, I found a new source of employment." Carson said.

" Really, who would take under their wing a freak like you?" Mercury said in a smug tone.

" Just La Reina." Carson remarked.

" I thought The Blossom club was just an information dealing organization." Mercury said.

" Oh, it's a lot more than that, and they're done helping Cinder." Carson stated.

" What?" Mercury said.

" Reina's done being Cinder's lifeline, so she sent me to remind you so you can tell her." Carson explained.

" Wait, Reina's cutting ties with us?" Mercury said.

" Yeah, she's fed up with Cinder's crap, plus, she's not too happy that Cinder attempted to send the next Fall Sentinel into a death trap." Carson said.

" What?! The next one's already picked?!" Mercury said in a shocked tone.

" Try to get some sleep, the boys here are gonna keep you up all night." Carson said before teleporting off the ship.

Mercury watched as the hunter's started reaching into his cage with metal hands with razor-serrated talons on the fingertips. Mercury was left speechless at what Carson had just told him: The Blossom club has just turned their back on his mentor and the next Fall Sentinel is here in Vale, but who was it? Mercury was oblivious to the truth that had been staring at him in the face...

THE NEXT FALL SENTINEL WAS XAVIER.

 **This chapter concludes with Mercury being trapped in a cage surrounded the primal hunters, cybernetically modified humans that have been driven to the point of insanity with only primal animal instincts to keep them going. He also learned the Blossom Club has turned its back on Cinder, and their organization is so much bigger than what the underworld thinks. The next chapter starts with Dante going toe-to-toe with the Changeling, and Yang begins her road to recovery following the Mountain Glenn incident.**

 **WAIT AND SEE.**


	11. Chapter 11: Project Jupiter

Chapter 11: Project Jupiter

U.S.S Constantine Assembly Room

10:00 am

Penny was sitting in the assembly room of the _Constantine,_ a room where machines and tools could be assembled at will. This room is where Penny feels most at home, and she was working alongside Ashlyn in assembling a robotic arm for the injured Xavier. Ashlyn was working on the hand and the fingers, while Penny was working on the joints of the elbow...

" Can you hand me the wrench?" Ashlyn said.

" Sure." Penny said, handing her a wrench.

Ashlyn tinkered with the hand, causing the fingers to move. They continued to assemble the arm when Ironwood barged in...

" Penny, there's been a... Who is this?" Ironwood said.

" I'm sorry, I meant to tell you about her, this is Ashlyn, she's...like me." Penny said.

" Like you?" Ironwood said.

" Yeah, she's a clockwork android." Penny said calmly.

Ironwood was rendered speechless, a living, breathing clockwork android was standing before him on his ship. Ashlyn figured Ironwood wasn't believing what Penny said, so she pressed a button that was disguised as a jeweled bracelet, and the artificial skin retreated to expose her blackened metal arm...

" Oh my god." Ironwood said, staring at the ticking gears inside their blackened metal shell.

" You clearly believe her now." Ashlyn said.

" Who assembled you?" Ironwood asked.

" A man who couldn't let go of his dead daughter, whose name was also Ashlyn." Ashlyn explained.

" She's been helping me assemble a robotic arm for Xavier." Penny explained.

" Oh, that's nice of you." Ironwood said.

" Anyway, you were about to say something before you were rendered speechless by the sight of me." Ashlyn said as the artificial skin returned and covered her metal arm.

" Oh, there was a breach in security last night." Ironwood said.

" What happened?" Penny asked in a concerned tone.

" We found Mercury outside his cell trapped in a cage that looked like it was attacked by a group of wild Grimm." Ironwood explained.

" What?" Ashlyn said.

" He said that he was attacked by some cybernetically-enhanced soldier and cybernetically enhanced humans who acted like primal animals." Ironwood said.

Ashlyn's scroll then started to vibrate, so she looked at it to see a message from Reina for her to return to the Blossom club immediately...

" What is it?" Ironwood asked.

" It's from my mentor, she wants to see me, now." Ashlyn said.

" I'll have one of my men give you a lift into the city." Ironwood said.

" Thank you sir." Ashlyn said as she exited the room.

One of Ironwood's airships gave her a lift into the city, and from there proceeded to the club to see what Reina had wanted. When she arrived in the meeting hall, Ashlyn found Reina standing out of her bed holding a tablet close to her.

" You wanted to see me, ma'am?" Ashlyn asked.

" Yes, Salazar told me about how you pestered him about Project: Jupiter." Reina said.

" Oh, he told you that huh?" Ashlyn said, looking embarrassed.

" Yes, so I think it's time what you knew what Project Jupiter is." Reina said.

" Really?" Ashlyn said, sounding really excited.

" Yes." Reina started. " As you are aware, your "father" preformed research while in the process of assembling you, correct?" She asked.

" Yes, he always hoarded his notes to himself." Ashlyn said, sounding annoyed.

" Well, Salazar found his notes after I was moved to the hospital on the day after the acid incident, as he forgot that we didn't know how to keep you maintained. While looking the notes over, he found something interesting..." Reina said.

" Really? What did he find?" Ashlyn asked, sounding intrigued.

" As it turns out, he was researching the combination of magic and technology. He said that when two machines are able to combine with each other through magic, they become something with the power of 70 times that of any powerful magus." She said.

" That's incredible." Ashlyn said.

" Yes, he called this process a " Power Link" and you have the same link energy inside of you." Reina explained.

" But wouldn't I need someone with the same link energy in them in order to use it?" Ashlyn asked.

" The energy would only be found in a fellow machine, mainly another android like you." Reina said.

" What are you suggesting?" Ashlyn said.

" He wanted... to build you a sister." Reina said.

Ashlyn was rendered speechless by what Reina had just told her, that her father was intending on building her a sister...

" He was unable to because he expended the available resources he had at his disposal on your construction." Reina explained.

" He must have been gathering more when the incident occurred." Ashlyn said, sounding remorseful.

" You never did explain to us why you killed him." Reina pointed out.

" After he assembled me, we spent the traditional parent quality time together for awhile. He taught me things, played games with me, making things seem like a paradise for me. But one day, it had all changed, he began to become scared of me, avoided me whenever he could." Ashlyn explained.

" So what happened?" Reina asked.

" I confronted him about it, so he panicked and claimed that I was starting to replace his daughter, then tried to destroy me." Ashlyn said.

" So you killed him in self-defense?" Reina said.

" Yes, didn't even use _Helios,_ just...snapped his neck with my bare hands." Ashlyn said.

" I see." Reina said, looking to the tablet.

" What is it?" Ashlyn asked.

" You can come in now." Reina said into the tablet.

A door behind Ashlyn opened up to reveal a redhead teen that looked similar to Ashlyn, just her hair was shorter and she had green eyes instead of blue. She wore elegantly designed robes with a belt on that had a crescent moon buckle on it. She had a large blue and black scroll on her back, and she stared at Ashlyn like she was looking into a mirror.

" Ashlyn, say hello to your sister, Jupiter." Reina said.

While Ashlyn was having a family reunion with her clockwork android sibling, Dante was about face off against the Changeling, but was also going to make a discovery that would change his world forever...

Central Square Middle School, Boy's locker room.

1:30 pm

Dante was in the locker room getting dressed for gym class, when he realized it had gone completely dead silent, no one was around him anymore. None of the guys were there anymore, like time had sped up all of a sudden. But the strangest thing was, that he could still hear their voices but couldn't see them at all, plus the lighting had been dimmed.

" _What the hell is going on?_ " Dante thought.

" Hello, cutie." A female voice said behind him.

He spun around to see Victoria standing behind him in seductive clothes, clothes that made her look like she needed to be working a street corner somewhere. Then, he immediately remembered what Raven had told him about Changelings...

" _Changelings will do anything to weaken the will of their prey, including assaulting their minds by tampering with their desires. Use an unexpected weapon they would least think of to defend yourself, as they will always be prepared for anything._ " Raven said.

" What's the matter, getting excited?" Victoria said as she walked up to him.

" No, just thinking of way to defend myself, Changeling." Dante said.

" Now, that's just rude." Victoria said, forcing Dante to sit down on a bench.

She then proceeded to sit on his lap, smile was brimming with sinister intention. She was unbuttoning the white jacket she was wearing beginning to reveal a black lace bra underneath...

" _Why the hell isn't he giving in?_ " Victoria thought.

" _What could I use to defend myself that she'll least expect?_ " Dante thought.

His own pants appeared beside him to his annoyance, but he remembered that he carried a handful of change in his right pocket. As she was about to press her breasts against Dante, he quickly pulled a handful of pennies and threw them at her face, watching as her once beautiful skin began to become pale with darkened veins...

" _Copper is poisonous to you?_ " Dante thought.

She leapt off him screaming, causing the room to return to normal as the other kids appeared on the ground waking up with no memory of being held under an illusion. He continued with his day, then boarded the bus home, pulling out the phone that Raven had given him...

" Hey Raven, it's me." Dante said.

" _Perez? What is it?_ " Raven asked.

" Had a run-in with the Changeling today, tried to sleep with me." Dante said in an annoyed tone.

" _Oh, I hate it when they try that._ " Raven said.

" Anyway, she took off after I managed break her illusion." Dante explained.

" _If she ran, she'll be coming back for revenge. Be on your guard at all times."_ Raven explained.

" I'll be carefu-" Dante said as a bone plated hand reached in and dragged him out of his bus.

He landed on his butt, only to see Victoria's true form, which was a tall, thin, and bone-plated creature with long razor sharp talons. It jumped off the bus, dragging it's talons along the concrete, tearing up the road as "she" approached Dante...

" Whoa, you got ugly real quick." Dante said as he started backing away.

" SHUT UP!" The Changeling said.

He turned and ran towards a nearby construction site where the workers had run away at the sight of the changeling. He ducked into the yard, constantly moving so the Changeling couldn't find him easily, pulling out his own phone in order to call Anna...

" Hey, babe?" Dante whispered.

" _Sweetie, what's wrong?_ " Anna asked.

" You remember how I told you about that Grimm that brutalized Chance?" Dante said.

" _Yeah."_ Anna responded.

" It's trying to kill me right now, right in a construction yard just off the road to Brewerton." Dante whispered.

" _I'll be there in 3 minutes._ " Anna said in a determined tone.

Dante evaded the Changeling at every turn, until it cornered him near some pipes, and a large hook swung at the beast and hit it in the face. Anna came running up to Dante, grabbing him and moving him away...

" Are you alright?" Anna asked.

" My butt hurts, but I'm alright otherwise." Dante explained.

" So how are we gonna kill this thing?" Anna asked.

" I threw pennies at it, looked like it was hit by rat poison." Dante explained.

" So Copper is poisonous to it?" Anna asked.

" Great, where are we gonna get a lot of copper?" Dante said.

" Those pipes up there!" Anna said, pointing to a large collection of copper pipe suspended in the air by a crane. So Anna asked Dante to do something that she usually wouldn't ask him to do...

" Can you lead it underneath those pipes while I get to the controls?" Anna asked.

" What? Are you serious?" Dante said in a shocked tone.

" Well, do you know how to operate a crane?" Anna asked.

" Well what are we waiting for? Let's lay some pipe!" Dante exclaimed.

" Never say that again, please." Anna said.

Dante began to lure the Changeling over to the pipes by teasing it, while Anna took her position at the controls to the crane. When the Grimm was finally in place, Dante leapt out of the way so his girlfriend could drop the 30-ton pipes onto the hostile Grimm.

" Oi, you got some of my friends beat, they only have two faces!" Dante screamed.

The Changeling chased Dante towards the crane, where Dante jumped out of the way as the pipes came smashing down onto the Changeling, crushing it to death. Dante regrouped with Anna following the fiasco, holding each other close knowing that the monster was dead. But as they held each other close, Anna began to hear strange music, as Dante did as well...

" What is that music?" Dante asked.

" I don't know, but it sounds beautiful." Anna responded.

" Sounds like it's coming from over that hill." Dante said.

They proceeded to over the hill of dirt, seeing what appeared to be a large cluster of ruins with construction gear around them. There were also tents pitched around it, which Anna knew that Archeologists were clearly studying the ruins. But the tents were deserted, the gear was a mess, and what appeared to be a large, circular stone glowed brightly with the symbol of a cross on it...

" The music's coming from underneath that thing." Dante stated.

" Then we better find something to dig with." Anna said.

As they approached the stone, it immediately sank downward to form a spiral staircase for them to walk down. This had the couple both alarmed and curious, so they proceeded down the steps and into a large chamber where there 9 massive spheres that were each made something different. One was made of pure electricity, One was made of Fire, One was made of ice, One was made of water, One was made of dirt, One was made of pure energy, One was made of bone, One was made of silver, and one looked as if it was made with pure tar.

" What is this place?" Dante asked.

" I don't know, but that the music is coming from that electricity sphere." Anna pointed out.

" No, it's coming from that fire sphere." Dante said to counter his girlfriend.

" Are your ears working? Because I hear it coming from that electricity sphere." Anna exclaimed.

" Wait, what if we are not hearing the same music?" Dante pointed out.

" Let's find out." Anna said walking over to the electricity sphere.

" What are doing?" Dante asked in a concerned tone.

" Whatever is causing the music I am hearing is inside that thing." Anna said.

All of a sudden, their ears began to ring very loudly that it had caused them to feel immense pain. Then, they heard the voice of what appeared to be a young girl...

" _Please, you need to answer the calling._ " The voice said.

" What?" Anna asked.

" _Please, take up the mantle._ " The voice said.

" Alright." Anna said in a compliant tone.

" What are you doing?" Dante asked.

" Somebody is communicating with us, so they want us to take whatever is inside those spheres." Anna said.

Anna approached the electric sphere and reached inside slowly, letting out a minor squeal as the electricity stung her. Dante wanted to run to his girlfriend's aid, but something had compelled him to approach the fire sphere. He reached inside, exclaiming in pain as it hurt reaching inside the sphere, until he felt his hand touch something inside. He wrapped his hand around it, pulling out a longsword with a golden dragon wrapped around its handle, as if it was coming out of the pommel stone.

" Anna, you won't believe what I just found!" Dante exclaimed.

" That's great ( _feeling her hand touch something in the sphere_ ) I think I found something too." Anna said, pulling her arm out.

Dante watched as his girlfriend pulled out a dark blue longstaff with a crystal at the top that was in the shape of a lighting bolt. The voice then began to speak to them once more...

" _You have taken up your weapons, now you must claim your destiny._ " The voice said.

" What do you mean?" Dante asked.

" _A great evil is approaching your world and will be there in 1 year, you must assemble your guardians as you two and the other seven are the only ones who can save this world."_ The voice explained.

" Well, then we better get to work." Anna said.

While Dante and Anna prepared for the mission ahead of them, Xavier was about to receive a gift from Penny...

Vale General Hospital

Room 356

5:30 pm

Penny had delivered the artificial arm to the doctors at the hospital, and they surgically attached it and its components to Xavier. Now, a metal frame covered his rib cage that was attached to his new arm, which had come out looking like an actual knight's gauntlet. Penny was sitting off to the side with Ashlyn, awaiting Xavier's reaction as he studied his new arm...

" So, what do you think?" Penny asked.

" I think you did a mighty fine job." Xavier said.

" Phew, the kid has been antsy for your reaction." Jupiter said.

" Really, now?" Xavier said in a joking tone.

" Yeah." Jupiter said.

" You know, when she told me about you guys, all I could picture you guys is as a knight, two musicians, and a maniac." Ashlyn said.

" I know, it sounds like the start of a bad joke." Xavier said.

" Yeah, it kind of does." Penny said in agreement.

" Anyway, so you two are clockwork androids and sisters?" Xavier asked Ashlyn and Jupiter.

" Pretty much, yeah." Ashlyn said calmly.

" Well, she just met me early this morning." Jupiter said.

" Oh, so sibling reunion." Xavier said casually.

" Yeah, that sums it up." Jupiter responded.

" Oh, did your employer like that design I sent her?" Xavier asked.

" Yes, she's got production underway, calling it Project: ARES." Ashlyn explained.

" What's that?" Penny asked.

" Just a little Defense System idea I had for the city." Xavier responded.

" We're not gonna tell Ironwood as we want it to be surprise." Ashlyn explained. " Jupiter, can you and Penny wait outside so I can talk to Xavier?" She asked her sister.

" Sure, come on Penny." Jupiter said, signaling Penny.

As Jupiter and Penny exited the room and closed the door, Ashlyn quickly turned to Xavier to ask him a couple of questions...

" How has it been, the cross on your left hand?" Ashlyn asked in an inquisitive tone.

" It's gaining more power, nurse said it was giving off a light show one evening." Xavier said.

" Well, what if I told you that mark actually meant something?" Ashlyn said.

" What do you mean?" Xavier asked.

" This cross is the symbol of a Season Sentinel, a magical protector of a Maiden of the Seasons." Ashlyn explained, holding Xavier's left hand.

" A what now?" Xavier asked in a confused tone.

" Has anyone told you the story of the Seasons?" Ashlyn asked.

" Yeah, Pyrrah told me about it once." Xavier pointed out.

" Well, that's not the full story." Ashlyn pointed out.

" Really now? What is the full story?" Xavier asked.

Ashlyn explained that on the second year that the four maidens visited the Old man, they explained that they were afraid of those who would make them abuse their powers. So in response to their fears, he used his powers on four soldiers, transforming them into four powerful warriors that were named The Sentinels of The Seasons. She also explained that the Sentinels each had their own individual symbols, in which upon a Sentinel's death, their emblem would appear on the body of their chosen candidate. The Sentinel of Fall always bore a cross on his left hand, in which meant Xavier was going to be the next Sentinel...

" What happened to the original guy?" Xavier inquired.

" He was assassinated by an individual who then attacked the current fall maiden, Amber, and they even stole a portion of her powers." Ashlyn explained.

" How could they be identified?" Xavier asked.

" They used a parasitic Grimm, so there would be a mark left behind." Ashlyn said.

" I'll have Zach look up some parasitic Grimm variants when I'm out of here." Xavier said.

Ashlyn walked out of the room and regrouped with Penny and her sister, while two doctors walked into the room...

" Hey, docs." Xavier said.

" You ready for your examination?" The first doctor asked.

But Xavier had a feeling that was gnawing at him, a feeling that something was off with the scene of two over-enthusiastic Faunus doctors entering his room when his two doctors were supposed to be human. That feeling was correct as he heard the sound of a silencer click into place...

" Is this a special examination?" Xavier inquired.

" You could say that." The Female Doctor said.

" Well, how bout a magic trick?" Xavier said before disappearing.

The assassins drew their suppressed pistols in surprise following the fact their target had just disappeared before their own eyes. While they were looking around the room for him, Xavier was carefully moving around the room, taking position behind them when they had bumped into each other. He revealed himself, and had the funniest thing to say...

" BOO!" Xavier said.

The Assassins quickly spun around to try and shoot him, but he grabbed their guns, breaking the guy's with his robotic arm and melting the girl's with his cross. They quickly attacked Xavier with their hands, but he easily over powered them and secured their hands with handcuffs from the security desk as they were knocked out...

" Ow, my head." The girl said as she started to come to.

" Ah, you're awake, good." Xavier said. " Now, who wants me so dead that they sent two amateur assassins to take me out?" He asked.

" Fuck you, that's who sent us." The Male assassin said.

" Do you happen to know what floor we're on?" Xavier inquired.

" 22nd, why?" The girl said.

" Because your partner just made a very poor choice of words." Xavier said, grabbing the guy.

The girl had to watch as Xavier angrily threw the partner out the window, hearing the sound of him splatter when he impacted on the concrete below. Xavier then turned to the girl with a gentlemanly look...

" I am so sorry you had to see that, it's just that... I don't fuck around when someone wants me dead." Xavier explained.

" Well, you gonna have to throw me out too, because I'm not telling you anything." The girl assassin said.

" Oh no, I'm a Gentleman, but I know when a prized stallion which some people must consider you, needs to be broken." Xavier said with a smile.

 **This chapter concludes with Xavier getting to torture the other assassin for the identity of the individual who wants him dead. No, he is not going to rape her (he may be crazy, but he is not that crazy). He now knows that he is going to be the next Fall Sentinel, and that his cross is getting more powerful with every step through out the course of the story. The next chapter he gets what he's looking for, but tragedy strikes when the robotic trio arrive at Beacon, and Xavier makes an official declaration of war on one certain individual...**

 **WAIT AND SEE.**


	12. Chapter 12: Reckoning Hour

Chapter 12: Reckoning Hour

Vale General Hospital, Room 356

6:01 pm

The room was a mess following the assassination attempt on Xavier's life, but it was now a dark scene as the female assassin, who was named Lilith, was restrained to Xavier's hospital bed while Xavier himself stood off to the side in his full gear, with his helmet off to the side near the door. Lilith was beaten, bloodied, and in serious pain at the current moment as Xavier had placed a scalpel behind her and it was digging into her back...

" Hurts doesn't it?" Xavier asked.

" Please, I'll talk." Lilith said with a broken voice and tears flooding down her eyes.

" Who sent you and your partner to kill me?" Xavier demanded.

" It was Cinder Fall, she wanted make sure you died after completed the other task." Lilith explained.

" What other task?" Xavier asked, resting his thumb on the button.

" It was...to set a wire trap..." Lilith started, showing signs of fatigue due to blood loss.

" For what?" Xavier inquired.

" Upon...her return to the school... Penny Polendina..." Lilith said.

" WHAT WILL HAPPEN?!" Xavier said, raising his voice.

" Will...die." Lilith said before passing out.

Xavier screamed at the top of his lungs, crushing the hospital bed into a large metal ball with Lilith still on it. He then exploded the wall with the Window on it outward, which meant that his cross was soon to reach it's full power. While he proceeded to meet with Ashlyn's employer, Lilith's declaration came to fruition...

Beacon Academy Docks

6:02 pm

The girls had arrived at the school to drop Penny off, without knowing that they were about to walk into a trap...

" Thanks for bringing me back here, guys." Penny said.

" Hey, what are friends for?" Ashlyn said.

" Anyway, I'd-" Penny said before two unknown assailants attacked the trio.

Ashlyn drew her weapon, _Helios,_ a large head axe while Jupiter readied two energy spheres in her hands. They defended themselves admirably until Jupiter was blown to pieces, so Ashlyn immediately turned to Penny...

" PENNY, RUN!" Ashlyn told her.

Penny ran as fast as she could, but when passed between the arches, the sound of wires launching alerted her, but it was already too late. Ashlyn watched in horror as Penny was violently ripped to pieces by the wire trap Lilith and her partner set before trying to assassinate Xavier. Jupiter was just reassembling herself, when she looked to see her older sister crying over Penny's remains...

" SISTER!" Jupiter screamed as she ran over.

When she arrived, she came face to face with Ashlyn's oil-soaked face. Oil had flowed down her face like actual human tears, in which she was worried...

" ( _Voice breaking_ ) Reina can rebuild her, can she?" Ashlyn asked.

" Let us pray, that it will be enough." Jupiter said, wrapping Penny's remains in her cloak.

The two girls left Beacon's grounds with the remains of their friend, just as Cinder and Emerald watched from a distance, as they were the attackers of the trio...

The Blossom Club, Meeting Hall.

6:09 pm

Ashlyn and Jupiter arrived in the meeting hall of the Blossom Club's headquarters, where Reina was meeting with an agitated Xavier, only to rendered speechless by the arrival of the girls...

" What is in the cloak?" Xavier asked.

" Penny Polendina." Jupiter responded in an emotional tone.

Xavier clenched his fists in anger while Reina was shocked at what happened...

" We walked into a trap, she was torn to pieces by a wire trap..." Jupiter explained.

" Which was set by the very same assassins that tried to kill me in the hospital." Xavier said before walking over to the window.

" Can you rebuild her?" Ashlyn asked.

" Yes, but the problems don't stop at Beacon." Reina said.

" What do you mean?" Jupiter asked.

" A news broadcast was recently sent out, Pyrrah Nikos was just accused of murdering Penny." Reina explained.

 _" Earth shall not hide them, for your eyes are against them. If I do well, and if my life is acceptable in your sight, let your face radiate because of me. If I do well in keeping to your commandments, be gracious and merciful to me."_ Xavier said.

" Xavier?" Reina asked.

" That is a prayer crusaders would recite before they ventured into battle." Xavier explained.

" Are you expecting a battle?" Ashlyn asked as technicians wheeled away Penny's remains.

" A battle is already on its way." Xavier said as alarms started to blare.

Reina immediately raced to the console and looked at the radar, only to see a huge swarm of Grimm approaching the city and Beacon...

" What is it?" Jupiter asked.

" Grimm, thousands of them, all converging on the city and Beacon." Reina explained.

" Ready the army." Xavier told Reina.

" Are you sure?" Reina asked.

" The time for hiding is over, Reina, Cinder brought a sword when she began this conflict, now she will perish by it." Xavier said, as the sky above the city started to glow.

" If you're going to fight, we're going with you." Ashlyn said in a determined tone.

" Are you girls sure?" Reina asked.

" He's right, now is the time to bring them Reckoning." Jupiter said.

" For Penny!" Ashlyn exclaimed.

" For Penny." Jupiter said.

" May they drown in the fires of their sins." Xavier said.

The bright lights in the sky formed a giant cross shaped exactly like the one on Xavier's left hand, so Reina went over to the intercom and asked someone to come in. Four individuals entered the room, but they weren't like ordinary people, because they had looked like different Grimm variants, but retained human traits...

" So, you're Team Stampede?" Xavier asked.

" Yeah, where that Cinder Fall bitch at?" The Leader, Selene, asked.

6 days earlier.

Port Odysseus Prison Facility.

Kingdom of Atlas.

10:30 am

Salazar and Carson approached the gates of the Port Odysseus Prison Facility that was located along the Atlas coast. It was the largest correctional institute owned by Atlas, as it was home to over 60,000 of Atlas's most wanted thugs, assassins, crime lords, con artists, thieves, serial killers, and mass murderers that normal prisons wouldn't even take. Its location was selected due to the fact the only official exit was a long stretch of hard terrain trails along the mountains, and the Aletian security boats were rigged with a charge that can be only deactivated by a code that the vessel's captains knew. So, no one that has been detained in this place has ever been able to escape...

" _State your name and business._ " An armored guard asked.

" Salazar Raiden, here to speak with Selene Castor and her team, Blossom Club authority." Salazar explained.

" _Blossom club? You are clear to proceed sir._ " The guard said in a shocked tone.

Salazar knew his involvement with his sister's organization would allow him to open many doors, including gaining access to the most secure prison in all of Atlas itself. He proceed to meet with the Warden, who was a tall, muscular man named Kerrigan.

" You must be Mr. Raiden." Kerrigan said.

" Hello, Adam Kerrigan." Salazar said.

" Please, follow me." Kerrigan said, directing Salazar inside.

They proceeded into the main structure of the facility, where guards kept a tight watch on all of the prisoners currently in attendance for breakfast. They walked past dozens of cells, until they reached a room where the guards sat a woman and three muscular men down in chairs in front of a table.

" I'll give you fifteen minutes with them." Kerrigan said to the two men.

" Thank you sir." Carson said.

Selene Castor was a tall, dark haired woman and leader of Team STMD, or "Stampede" as they liked to be called. She fought with a set of armored gauntlets that had razor sharp claws on them, making her a deadly hand-to-hand expert. Her right-hand man and partner, Tobias Quill, was a knife-expert as he had carried a collection of knives with him in a fight, while their other two teammates, Michael Steele and Dominic Vessarian, were the team's heavy hitters, as Michael wielded a bladed warhammer that was also a laser cannon, and Dominic wielded a maul that was also an elemental cannon. He was also trained in the use of demolitions.

" Well, this is the one moment I hadn't expected." Carson said.

" You said it, old man." Dominic said.

" What do you want, Sal?" Selene asked.

" I am here with an offer that can get you four out of this hellhole." Salazar explained.

" ( _Scoff.)_ What could you offer us?" Tobias said in a disbelieving tone.

" A chance to clean yourselves up, and prove yourselves heroes." Salazar said.

" Heroes? This world doesn't need more heroes. All it needs is a few more monsters." Michael remarked.

" That's true, but what about monsters that fight for a common good?" Salazar asked.

" What do you mean?" Selene inquired.

" My sister needs some more trump cards to point at Cinder Fall, so she wants you, the "Specialists of the Impossible", on her side." Salazar explained.

" Heh, and how will we be able to fight Cinder fucking Fall?" Dominic asked.

" Simple, we have something that can give you four abilities that most people only dream of, but at a cost." Carson explained.

" Heh, no deal." They all said, before Carson slammed a knife straight through the metal table. " But we can work that." Selene said, with the others nodding in agreement.

" Good." Salazar said with a smile.

Salazar then secured passage for the group to be released from the prison, and took them back to a laboratory in Vale to be remade into the Trump cards for his sister...

Morningstar Genetics

City of Vale.

10:00 pm.

Team STMD was restrained into individual chairs in separate isolation booths for what was about to happen to them. They were about to be injected with KRC13, an experimental mutagen developed by scientist Dimitri Freeman, a loyal follower of the Blossom Club, who was standing off to the side with Salazar.

" Are you sure this will work?" Salazar asked.

" It will, all of our test subjects had survived primary and subsidiary tests." Freeman explained.

" What is the known effects that come with the rewarding of these abilities?" Salazar inquired.

" Simply a slight cosmetic change, only some of our subjects had shown this during the tests." Freeman responded.

" All right, begin the procedure." Salazar ordered.

" Yes sir." Freeman responded, pressing a button that began the procedure.

The booths immediately sealed up after the technicians exited them, and the tubes with the KRC13 in them pumped the mutagen into the bloodstream of the four. An electric charge was provided to stimulate the mutagen, activating it, causing nerve-wracking pain inside the bodies of the four. Steam and smoke filled the booths, until Freeman stopped the charge at the necessary moment when the mutagen was fully activated. Salazar watched on as a dead silence had fallen over the laboratory, with all present watching in envy of how the experiment had played out. Their silence was broken by the sound of glass breaking, as a large paw slammed against the glass on Dominic's booth, and a lion's paw slammed against the glass of Selene's booth...

" Open the booths." Salazar said.

" Sir?" Dimitri asked.

" Open the booths now." Salazar demanded.

Freeman opened the doors to the four's individual booths, and Team STMD stepped out of them one at a time. Selene's new appearance wasn't as severe as the others, as her lower legs were transformed into a large feline's with blackened fur, her hands had transformed into paws with serrated talons on the fingers. Her blackened hair lined the sides of her face, her irises were glowing blood red, and her teeth were now razor sharp and bright white fangs. Tobias now looked like an enormous porcupine Grimm, with long, serrated, and toxic quills lining his back, while Michael looked like an enormous Boarbatusk that walked on two large legs, while Dominic transformed into a large, muscular Ursa that walked on his hind legs.

" How do you all feel?" Salazar asked Selene.

" Like... Cinder is in for one wild night." Selene said.

" Good, when that time comes, she's gonna be done with the foreplay." Salazar said as a joke.

" When that time comes, we'll be feeling quite generous." Selene said with a sinister smile.

Present Day.

Blossom Club Under levels.

6:21 pm

Reina took Ashlyn down to the under levels of the Blossom Club Headquarters, into a large bay where there were 70 times seventy knights were standing in long lines, carrying weapons and Shields that bore a cross on them. Ashlyn was impressed, this was the army Xavier had spoken of, while Reina walked over to a console.

" This is the army Xavier talked about." Ashlyn said.

" Yes, they are immune to hacking since they are Clockwork soldiers." Reina explained.

" Clockwork soldiers?" Ashlyn asked.

" Yes, they don't have normal minds, which renders them immune to any hacking attempts." Reina said.

Ashlyn was alarmed as the robots powered up, standing like actual soldiers awaiting orders. Reina walked over to Ashlyn, handing her a piece of paper and a microphone...

" What is this?" Ashlyn asked.

" The way for you to see their loyalty...to him." Reina explained.

Ashlyn took the mike and paper, looking down onto the paper to see an order that she was to say to the clockwork knights that had stood before her...

" Speak up, you men of order, tell us all who you are!" Ashlyn said in a militaristic tone.

The robots all raised their heads towards the individual who had spoken to them in a command, beginning to speak...

" WE ARE THE SOLDIERS OF THE TEMPLAR! WE ARE KNIGHTS-TEMPLAR!" The Clockwork knights all hollered.

" Yeah, they'll do." Ashlyn said to Reina with a smile.

 **This chapter concludes with a suspenseful tone. The ultimate battle for Vale is about to begin, and battle lines are about to be drawn, Xavier and the army of the Knights-Templar on one side with Ashlyn and Jupiter, the students and staff of Beacon Academy on one side, The White Fang and Cinder on another, with the Grimm coming down on another. We are nearing the end of Templar and Shadow readers, and the final chapters will be told from the view a drunken and demoralized Cinder, who is telling her story to a mysterious individual, and an ending that will leave you wanting for more.**

 **WAIT AND SEE.**


	13. Chapter 13: Union at War

Chapter 13: Union at War

Mag-Lev train 341, Atlas.

8:09 am.

The Mag-Lev train 341 was carrying over 290 passengers onboard, hauling a cargo shipment of tech for Aletian Paladin units. In the 7th car, where there were civilians present inside, Penny was resting her head in a seat across a cyborg-super soldier, none other than Carson himself. But Carson knew that the reality they were in wasn't real, so he decided to tell Penny that as she started to wake up...

" Hey, you're finally awake." Carson said.

" Ugh, where am I?" Penny asked with a tired voice.

" Right now, you're being rebuilt in the under levels of the Blossom Club." Carson explained.

" What?" Penny asked in a shocked tone.

" Oh, I'm sorry, your memory core got damaged on impact." Carson explained. " Let fill in the gaps for you, Ashlyn and Jupiter were taking you back to Beacon when you were attacked by two unknown assailants and you were torn to shreds by a wire trap set by assassins that then tried to kill Xavier. The girls brought your broken body to Reina, so she's got you undergoing repairs and receiving some upgrades as well, so she's got me teaching you to use them." He explained.

" I'm getting rebuilt?" Penny asked.

" Yeah, your CPU is currently hooked up to a computer so I can teach you how to use your new upgrades alongside my teammates. Where do you think we are now?" Carson asked.

Penny slid over to the window to see that they are in Atlas since they were passing by Bottimere Park...

" We are currently in Atlas, as we are passing Bottimere park, home of the magnificent Bottimere gardens." Penny said in her normal tone.

" Yes, we are currently riding Mag-Lev train 341." Carson said.

Penny immediately developed a scared look on her face, until the rear of the train exploded violently, sending the car behind them flying towards them. She covered her face, fearing that car was going to hit her, when everything froze still, and Carson appeared walking up to her...

" Several months ago, the White Fang's Atlas chapter attacked Mag-Lev train 341 with the intent stunting the development of the Aletian Paladin program by destroying the experimental guidance tech with a bomb that they had managed to sneak aboard the train without no one knowing. The explosion killed the majority of the passengers and crew, excluding a young girl who was shielded by her mother from shrapnel at the cost of her life. The incident had set the program back, but also crippled Mag-Lev travel in the kingdom as the people were consumed by the fear of another attack taking place. This gave the fang power, but tonight that all changes." Carson said.

" What do you mean?" Penny asked.

" We're are going to change all of that. The goal of this simulation is to stop the train from going boom." Carson said, as they were transported to an abandoned factory under siege by the Military.

The scene Penny had seen was Aletian soldiers engaged in a firefight with white fang militants, only to be suffering losses upon their initial arrival thanks to gun nests set up in the towers in the courtyard. Carson was walking up just as the scene of two soldiers about to be crushed by a flying truck...

" Time: 6:30 am, four hours before the train went boom. Aletian Security forces received an anonymous tip that the chapter was here, but faced hell upon arrival, as gun nests carrying enough firepower to tear a city apart were grinding them to dust." Carson explained.

" Yeah, but we're gonna change all that." A cybernetic soldier said as she appeared behind Carson.

" This is Rei, she is our sword expert in the unit. She'll be teaching you the ropes on your new offensive capabilities." Carson explained before disappearing.

" So, you're the Aletian bot Reina's putting back together." Rei said.

" Yes." Penny said.

" Good, listen to my instructions and you'll get through this part of the sim." Rei started. " Your swords and wires are now made of Diveridium, a metal that cannot be polarized, which means its resistant to magnetics. When it's cooled after being assembled, it is virtually indestructible. They can also cut through any material, including metal, so why don't you test them out on the towers where the nests are." Rei said before the sim restarted.

Penny immediately leapt into action, using her swords to decimate the towers in a violent fashion. She and Rei pressed forward into the warehouse and encountered more hostiles, until they arrived in a room full of Aletian Knight 200's and airborne attack drones.

" Hey, you want to see something cool?" Rei asked.

" Sure." Penny said.

Rei walked over to a drone, raising her hand up to it, resting it on the drone's head. There was a slight spark, followed by the drone rising up into the air, then moving in the direction that Rei had directed it, which had Penny amazed.

" You interfaced with its CPU." Penny said in an amazed tone.

" Yeah, so can you when the techs have done their work." Rei said.

" Huh?" Penny asked.

" One of your upgrades allows you to interface with other machines, taking control of their actions and operations. However, you cannot interface with multiple machines at once, otherwise you'll burn yourself out." Rei explained before gesturing Penny to try.

Penny walked over to one of the Aletian knights and repeated the same hand motion that Rei did for the Drone, causing the knight to spring to life, stepping out of its charger. Penny backed up and it did the same, as if mimicking the robot girl's movements...

" Wow, it's like I can see what it sees." Penny said, raising and lowering her arm while the knight did the same.

" I know right, but a word of advice, do not interface with a bot that is infected with a computer virus, otherwise you'll be infected with it too." Rei said.

" Okay." Penny said.

Penny then used the bot tov destroy a generator in order to let the Aletian troops in, and the simulation paused all of a sudden, which Penny noticed Rei clutching the side of her neck in pain. Penny rushed over to see if she was alright...

" Hey, are you alright?" Penny asked, resting her hand on her shoulder.

" Do you remember Carson telling you that only one little girl survived the train explosion?" Rei asked.

" Yes, he said the girl survived because her mother sacrificed herself to save her." Penny said in an emotional tone.

" Well, you're about to learn something new, that girl was me." Rei said, shocking Penny.

 **(This is a flashback moment of Rei's, so she'll be narrating during it.)**

(Narration by Rei.)

It was only 15 years ago, when the original Paladin idea was being developed. The experimental guidance tech on the train was for prototypes that they had been developing, so they placed it on the Mag-Lev in order to avoid suspicion. I was only 6 years old when I was on vacation with my parents, Ryou and Katami, alongside my younger brother Keichi, as we were taking the train to the Bottimere Gardens, without knowing what was going to happen...

Mag-Lev train 341

Hyperion City, Atlas.

15 years ago.

6-year-old Rei Cydan was sleeping on her 34-yr-old mother's lap, while her father and brother sat in the other seats. Rei was just waking from a nice long nap, looking up at her mother's beautiful face...

" Did you sleep well sweetie?" Katami asked.

" Yes, mommy." Rei responded.

" Well, we're nearly at the gardens." Ryou pointed out.

" Yes, your flower club is going to be impressed with the photos you are going to get." Keichi said.

" Yes, the-" Rei said when the train cars behind them exploded.

" _The last thing I remember was the brightness of the explosion that had just occurred, killing every person in the back of the train. I remember everyone screaming violently in horror at what happened and as it unfolded. I thought my whole world was ending when the explosion happened, but the sight I was going see as I came to was never going to leave my mind."_ Rei narrated.

As Rei had come to after hitting her head, she was in a completely dark train car as all lights were out. The entire car reeked of death and char, and Rei immediately realized that she was underneath the dead body of her own mother. Tears began to well up her eyes, but she couldn't let out the sounds of her sobs as her chest was in too much pain, so using what strength she could muster, she slid herself out from underneath her mother's body, seeing the large shrapnel pieces in her back.

" Mommy?" Rei said before clutching her chest in pain.

She stood up carefully, looking at herself to look at her damage. The flower wreath she wore for the trip was on the floor in tatters, her bright blue dress was torn and blood-stained, blood was also trickling down her left leg and soaking into her white sock. There was a severe cut on her neck, along with another cut, only smaller and it was found underneath her left eye. This was the current state that the 6-yr-old was in, and instinct was telling her to get off the train but carefully...

" _I saw that there was a bright light shining into the car, illuminating the scene for me to see. All I could think about was the pain that was wracking my body and getting off the train fast in case of an explosion."_ Rei narrated.

The injured 6-yr-old limped her way towards the opening, hoping it was a way off the wreck. She stepped over the pieces of either the train or the passengers, reaching the opening, which lead out into the city, where firefighters, police, and military were setting up a perimeter around the wreck of the train, locking the area down. One of the soldiers and his superior were directing fire trucks, when he spotted the bloodied and beaten girl...

" HEY!" The soldier screamed, crossing his arms and pointing at Rei.

" You only do that when there is an airship is above us." Carson explained.

" Well then, look!" The soldier exclaimed, pointing at Rei still.

The soldier's superior officer was in fact Carson himself before he had taken up employment alongside La Reina. He turned around to see what his underling had been pointing at, only to see a bloodied, bruised, cut, and crying 6-yr-old standing amidst the wreck of a Mag-Lev train...

" MEDIC!" Carson screamed to one of the firefighters.

He immediately rushed up to the injured girl was limping towards him, then falling into his arms after he arrived in front of her...

" Hang in there kid, you're gonna be fine." Carson said over and over again.

After explaining what had happened, Rei looked up to see that Penny had a shocked look of concern on her face. She immediately shrugged it off, convincing Penny to push forward with the sim, so they pressed forward to a room with a security console.

" One fun fact, you now have the ability to interface with other machines, like computers." Rei explained. " Just place your hand on the computer, and you're in the system." She added.

Penny placed her hand onto the console, seeing into the entirety of the White Fang's computer Network. She then brought up an image of the bomb that was used to destroy the train.

"They used a White Phosphorus explosive with sensors on it that would set it off in case it is tampered with." Penny explained as Carson reappeared.

" Well done you two, you had just completed in 15 minutes what took Atlas soldiers 40 minutes to do." Carson said.

Rei disappeared as Carson and Penny were transported to a new firefight scene, this time it was located in a train yard where the Aletian troops and robots were engaged in a firefight with more White Fang troops. The environment paused as Carson appeared alongside a young man who was a cybernetically enhanced soldier like Rei.

" 6: 51 am, Atlas forces converged on a train yard that the White Fang were using as a staging base for the train attack. They faced heavy resistance, even the two-horned devil himself made an appearance once until he wussed out. Because of their delay, Train went boom. You'll working with Hoyt here for this part." Carson said.

" Nice to meet you kid." Hoyt said.

" Salutations." Penny said.

" Cheery." Hoyt said as he looked at Carson.

" Just get her through this." Carson said before disappearing.

" This is where the fun begins, kid, you ready?" Hoyt said.

" Yes." Penny responded.

" Good, all you have to do is point your sword at that guy's gun and think of fire." Hoyt said.

" Okay." Penny said, raising her sword as the sim resumed.

She pointed one of her swords at the white fang soldier's gun while thinking of fire, causing the gun to explode, leaving her speechless at what she had just did.

" That little trick is called Immolation, it allows you overheat your opponents weapons." Hoyt explained.

They pressed forward with the sim, combating White Fang militants in the train yard building, until they reached a room with another large console. Penny was curious, why was a large console at the end of each part of the simulation...

" What's got you confused?" Hoyt asked.

" At the end of each of these scenarios, there's always a large console." Penny said.

" Well, this one isn't easy." Hoyt said, as they began to hear machinery.

They looked forward to see a large, black and red spider robot drop down in front of them, blocking their path to the console. Penny was using her swords and devastating plasma attacks on the spider while Hoyt used his shotgun and abilities to lay down cover fire. With a combined Immolation attack, they overheated the Spider from the inside, causing it to explode into thousands of pieces.

" What is the point of this part?" Penny asked as they approached the console.

" The Aletian soldiers discovered that they had an informant in the company that had assembled the Mag-Lev, an informant who aided them in smuggling the bomb onboard. So this console's got the info we need." Hoyt explained.

Penny knew that she had to interface with the console, so she did so and uncovered the identity of the informant as Karla Redford, age 23, technical programmer for the company.

" I got it, I got the informant's identity." Penny said as Carson reappeared.

" Because of that woman's corrupt actions, the train went boom. Well done kid, you just got one final part before the finale." Carson explained.

They were then teleported to the scene what appeared to be the scene of a military police raid on a wealthy individuals apartment. Carson appeared as the simulation played out...

" 7:01 am, Military police are sent to the apartment of Samuel Beckett arrest Mrs. Redford for treason, but what they had faced was not what they had expected." Carson said as the doors to the apartment exploded ina barrage of gunfire, freezing the simulation.

" What was she doing here?" Penny asked.

" That's because she was having an affair with Beckett behind her husband's back." A voice said coming up from behind them.

" Penny, this is Taylor Marretti, he'll be working alongside you for this part." Carson explained.

" How you doing?" Marretti asked.

" Pretty good." Penny responded.

" Well, Redford killed Beckett after he found out about her involvement, so she reprogrammed his personal security bots to defend her." Carson explained before disappearing.

" Well, this the final part before the big finish, so the goal is rather simple, don't let Redford escape." Marretti said before the sim resumed.

Penny jumped in front of the doors, using her swords to shred the security sentries. Redford responded by jumping out the window, landing on the balcony of the opposite building, with Marretti and Penny giving chase. They chased her over moving trains, balcony to balcony, until Penny tackled her into a thing of scaffolding, injuring her in the process.

" There is something extra you should know about your interfacing ability, you can also interface with the implants of other people, but at a price." Marretti explained.

" What?" Penny said in an emotional tone.

" The person you interface with dies as a result. She has the information we need..." Marretti said, hinting to something Penny wasn't going to like.

" You want me to interface with her, don't you?" Penny asked.

" We have no other choice, you'd basically be giving her mercy while getting the information we need." Marretti said.

Penny placed her hand on the side of the dying Redford's head, interfacing with the implant in her brain. She combed through the information in Redford's mind, learning the exact method of how they had smuggled the bomb onboard the train. She lifted her hand off Redford, who looked as if she passed away peacefully, and Marretti looked at her with a concerned look.

" You alright?" Marretti asked.

" Yeah, I'm okay." Penny said.

" Were you able to get what we need?" Marretti asked.

" Yes, she hacked the train's security bots for them to move the bomb." Penny explained as Carson walked up behind Marretti.

" Well done kid, you're ready for the final challenge." Carson said.

Penny and Carson then were standing atop the fast-moving Mag-Lev train, and Carson was calibrating his own watch...

" This is the final part of our lesson, but its gonna be a challenge. You're gonna be on a timeline of 17 minutes, that gives you plenty of time to get to the bomb and find a way to stop it." Carson explained.

" Okay." Penny said.

" Good luck kid, you beat this, you'll wake up out of this." Carson explained.

Penny jumped through the skylight, combating the hacked robots throughout the car until she arrived in the cargo hold of one car, where the bomb was sitting in the middle of the car, counting down. Penny immediately thought out her options in how to stop the bomb from destroying the train. Penny then hacked into the controls systems of the Magnet plates underneath the car and reversed them, tearing the car in two and saved the 290 onboard. The bomb exploded, and she leapt into Carson's arms as he was standing in front her...

" Hey, it's all over." Carson said.

" Where am I?" Penny asked.

" Now, you are underneath the Blossom Club." Carson stated.

Penny looked around to see Rei, Hoyt, and Marretti standing next to Reina and a large group of technicians and engineers. She rushed over to a mirror, causing a feeling of excitement to rush over her as she was put back together by the kind people around her. She went around the room, hugging the individuals who were involved in the reconstruction process...

" Hey sis, Xavier's about to give a speech to the knights." Salazar said as he entered the room.

" Ooh, I do not want to miss this." Rei said, exiting the room.

" That kid is a badass." Hoyt said, following Rei.

" Hey guys, wait up." Marretti said.

Penny followed everyone out of the room, into a large area where Xavier stood atop a large platform with Ashlyn and Jupiter, and he was in an actual Knight's uniform, matched to the design that Ashlyn had put on the robotic arm when they had assembled it for him, with his original helmet resting at his side.

" KNIGHTS, LET IT BE KNOWN THIS DAY, I DO NOT ASK FOR THE POOR, OR THE HUNGRY, I DO NOT WANT THE TIRED AND SICK, IT IS THE CORRUPT I CLAIM! THAT YOU CLAIM! BY THE TIPS OF YOUR SPEARS, THE BLADES OF YOUR SWORDS, BY THE BASH OF YOUR SHIELDS, THE SLAM OF YOUR HAMMERS, AND THE CUT OF YOUR AXES! THE FUTURE IS TO BE WRITTEN BY THE FREE, NOT THE INSANE, NOT THE CORRUPT, NOT THE SINNER, AND NEVER BY THE GRIMM! WE ARE THE VANGUARD TO THE FUTURE OF THE FREE! SO THEY MUST KNOW WHO WE ARE!" Xavier screamed.

" WE ARE THE SOLDIERS OF THE TEMPLAR, WE ARE KNIGHTS-TEMPLAR!" The knights responded.

" GOTT MITT UNS!" Ashlyn screamed.

Penny watched as all of the thousands of Knights carried the chant of " Gott Mitt Uns!" throughout the room in a simultaneous fashion. Even members of Reina's staff carried the chant themselves, so Penny met up with Xavier after the speech, in which he was drinking water after screaming a lot.

" Xavier!" Penny exclaimed.

" Penny, good to see that you're back together." Xavier said.

" What was that speech for?" Penny asked.

" We've got two separate hordes of Grimm converging on the city and Beacon, except the Beacon Horde has White Fang Support." Ashlyn explained.

" The White Fang are involved?" Penny said.

" The Aletian forces at Beacon and the students have pledged their support to us." Jupiter explained as the Knights began to load up into Skysaber assault airships.

" Cinder will know the force of a Union at War." Xavier stated.

" Cinder, that student from Mistral?" Penny asked in a confused tone.

" She isn't a student Penny, she's the one responsible for all of this." Xavier explained.

" What?" Penny said.

" She's the one responsible for the wire trap that ripped you apart." Ashlyn said.

" She's the reason Yang and I got seriously injured in the Mountain Glenn incident." Xavier explained.

" She was Roman Torchwick's employer." Reina said.

" She's now causing enough chaos that Grimm are currently converging on the city and Beacon." Carson added.

All of these things angered Penny, as people suffering was the one thing that she despised the most. She followed alongside the group as they had converged on a Holo-table that had an image of the city and Beacon...

" Do you have a plan to deal with the converging Grimm?" Salazar asked.

" We are going to suppress the Grimm Hordes that haven't arrived in the city with ARES, and the army we currently have is going to be split into two groups. One group will converge on the city and aid Ironwood's people that are present there, while the second group will converge on Beacon and stop the White Fang before they succeed." Xavier explained.

" Who will lead the First Group?" Reina asked.

" I was thinking your brother could do it." Xavier said.

" Are you sure Sentinel?" Salazar asked.

" I agree with the kid, you've got experience with this kind of stuff." Carson said.

" So it's decided, Salazar will lead the force that will converge on the city while I lead the force going to Beacon." Xavier said.

" My sister and I are going with you." Ashlyn said.

" Agreed, Penny, you will probably want to come along too?" Xavier asked Penny.

" Yes." Penny said with an angry look on her face.

" I'm going too." Rei said.

" Are you sure Rei?" Carson asked.

" If the White Fang is involved, I've got a score to settle." Rei said.

" Can't argue with that." Xavier said.

" What about Selene's team?" Reina asked.

" Let STMD run wild with the baddies down in the city." Xavier said.

" Agreed." Salazar said.

" Let the Battle for Vale begin!" Ashlyn exclaimed.

They were decided on a strategy that would ensure them victory over their enemies on this night. Team STMD loaded up into an airship that joined the skysabers heading for Vale, with Salazar's personal gunship at the tip of the spear. Xavier, the girls, and Carson's team loaded into an airship of their own and left with another group of skysabers that converged towards Beacon, leaving Reina to contend with keeping the club's members present in the building safe.

" _He's right, Cinder will know the force of a Union at war."_ Reina thought.

 **This chapter concludes with The army of the Knights-Templar mobilizing into both Beacon and Vale to defend it from hostile invasion by both The Grimm and the White Fang. The title I have chosen for this chapter alludes to song _Union (Slopes of St. Benedict)_ by the band Sabaton as the Aletian forces and the students of Beacon have forged an alliance with the Knights to ensure the survival of the world they know. The next chapter is going to be told through the point of view of a drunken and demoralized Cinder who is telling the story of the Battle of Vale and Beacon to an unknown individual. We are nearing the end my readers...**

 **WAIT AND SEE.**


	14. Chapter 14: Fury of the Templar

Chapter 14: Fury of The Templar.

 ** _" CRY HAVOC, LET SLIP THE DOGS OF WAR!_ "- Julius Caesar.**

The Shattered Doll, Vacuo

2:30 pm.

9 months later.

The Shattered Doll was a bar located in a shantytown in Vacuo, owned by ex-convict George Raymond. Raymond was originally a well-known drug dealer, until he went to school and earned enough money to open the bar. He opened the bar in the shantytown because many workers for local dust mines had either called that place home or needed good booze after a long day at work. But on this night, something was different, as when the wind came in through the doors, it was colder than usual, and the patron who walked in wasn't normal. She was wearing armor that was shrouded by a black cloak, and her hood had a magical shroud on it that had shielded her face. She approached the bar with intent...

" What can I get ya?" George asked.

" I'm looking for her." The girl said.

George immediately sighed, as he had known who this mysterious girl standing before him had been searching for...

" You know, she's not looking for visitors." George explained.

" Not even if it's somebody looking to hear her story?" The girl asked.

" Not even that." George said.

" Why not?" The girl inquired.

" Because... she's tormented by every failure she suffered that day." George explained.

The girl placed her hand on George's shoulder, then proceed to speak...

" _Don't worry George, I will be kind to her._ " The girl whispered.

" Well, okay, but I'd better talk to her first, wait here." George said before walking towards the basement.

The girl waited at the basement door while George was downstairs talking to the individual that the girl had come to the bar searching for. After a few minutes after arguing with the individuals, George came back up stairs to talk to the girl...

" That was a verbal discussion." The girl remarked.

" She's willing to tell you her story, on the condition that you don't bother her ever again." George said.

" That's fair." The girl responded before proceeding downstairs into the basement.

When the girl descended into the basement, she saw a cot set up in the corner of the room with a lamp, bottles and barrels of alcohol were in a room behind a locked door. There, sitting at a table with a bottle of alcohol and a pistol on the table, was the one person she had never expected to be speaking to: CINDER FALL.

" Wow, suffer a defeat once, and you turn into a drunkard." The girl remarked.

" Don't start." Cinder said.

Cinder gestured the girl over to a crate near the small table she was sitting at. As the girl sat down, she saw Cinder was wearing ragged clothing, and had a large scar on her back. She also looked like she only drank in order to conceal a pain that she was trying to bury. This made the girl pity her...

" So, you want to hear the story of my biggest defeat?" Cinder said.

" I am willing to listen." The girl said.

" Well, it's going to be bloody." Cinder stated.

" I have a strong stomach, start at the beginning." The girl said.

Beacon Academy, Vale.

6:30 pm

Months before...

( _Narration by Cinder._ )

After I framed Pyrrha Nikos for killing Penny, the city had descended into chaos. Grimm began to swarm the city, leaving the Aletian forces vulnerable as they were getting overrun, which meant that the plan was going smoothly. That was, until the White Fang converged on Beacon...

White Fang airship 113

Adam Taurus was riding alongside some his men in a small fleet of airships that were carrying both his own soldiers and Grimm, storming the school's gates upon docking, but when they reached the central courtyard, a barrage of arrows flew from the rooftops and shadows of the buildings, massacring the Grimm that were with them, even killing a few of his soldiers...

" HALT!" Adam screamed to his men.

Every White Fang soldier had immediately stopped dead in their tracks, in which a fully armored Xavier appeared, with _Eternal Judgment_ resting on his back. One soldier disobeyed Adam's orders and charged Xavier with his sword pointed at him, but he was shot dead by an Aletian soldier.

" Out of our way human!" Adam demanded.

" Hold your tongue, the corrupt don't speak." Xavier exclaimed as Blaze appeared with his swords at the ready. " Do the corrupt dare walk these ground before my eyes? Do the corrupt raise an army? Fall in and advance? With those who would abandon morality, and embrace the tyrannical dark, dare presume to meet my game?!" He added.

White Fang soldiers watched as Aletian soldiers and their robots emerged from the shadows, alongside Beacon students who were ready to fight for their school. Xavier had drawn _Eternal Judgment_ off his back, holding it his hand as a series of pages began to fall downward from a rooftop...

" THE MILITARY AND STUDENTS WILL NOT ALLOW IT, THE KNIGHTS-TEMPLAR WILL NOT ALLOW IT!" Xavier decreed.

Ashlyn and Jupiter dropped down from the roof of two adjacent buildings, speeding to Xavier's side while he transformed _Eternal Judgment_ into it's axe form, slamming it into the ground with great force. He then faced towards the White fang, with a look in his eye that meant " shit was about to get real"...

" You will be cut down like straw, trembling before our wrath, AMEN!" Xavier exclaimed.

The White Fang soldiers where a little unnerved by the wholesale slaughter of the Grimm they had brought with them. Every student and soldier stood at the ready, when Xavier then proceeded to say...

" Speak up, you men of order, tell us all who you are." Xavier declared.

" WE ARE THE SOLDIERS OF THE TEMPLAR, WE ARE KNIGHTS-TEMPLAR!" The knights exclaimed as they all started to uncloak.

The White Fang were rendered speechless by the appearance of the thousands of armored knights that uncloaked, revealing that they had completely surrounded Adam's entire army without them knowing at all. Adam looked to see that they bore Xavier's cross on their shields, which meant that they were all loyal to him.

" Well then, my Knights-Templar, I ask you, what do you hold in your right hand?" Xavier asked.

" A WEAPON THAT BEARS THE FURY OF THE OPPRESSED!" The Knights declared.

" Well then, my Knights-Templar, I ask you, What do you hold in your left hand?" Xavier exclaimed.

" A SHIELD TO PROTECT THE SOULS OF THE INNOCENT!" The Knights declared.

" Now! Show them who you are, MY KNIGHTS-TEMPLAR!" Xavier exclaimed, chopping the head off a White Fang soldier that had charged him.

" _Fortes Accipe formationis!_ " Ashlyn shouted to the troops.

The knights obeyed Ashlyn's command, forming defensive lines against the charging White Fang militants. It was the knights that had carried the larger shields forming a shield wall with their spears down, with archers taking position behind them. Charging White Fang soldiers that charged at the wall only were impaled onto the tips of their spears, with archers mowing down other advancers, which only angered and shocked Adam. How was this army more strategically sound than any military that they had ever faced before? How did they even amass an army this large? All these questions would have to wait as he noticed Xavier fighting his way through the battlefield directing his teammates to different locations.

" _Win or lose, he dies tonight._ " Adam thought.

He left his men to his chief lieutenants, then proceeded to pursue Xavier with hopes of killing him, believing it to disorganize the army that was fighting his. But along the way, he encountered his former disciple, Blake, fighting off his men in the cafeteria...

" Hello, Blake." Adam said as he walked into the cafeteria.

" Adam?!" Blake said in a scared tone.

" Are you going to run? Like you always have?" Adam said angrily.

" Not anymore!" Blake said as she attacked him.

Adam combated his former student, surprised she didn't turn tail and flee like he expected her to do. Their fight spilled out onto a rooftop, in which Adam wounded her severely, slicing her abdomen and shoulder, leaving her bleeding profusely.

" Why did you do it? Why did you betray me?" Adam demanded.

" I betrayed you (grunt) because you've become a monster." Blake said, weakly.

" I only became a monster, because the humans left me no choice!" Adam declared.

" There is always a...choice." Blake said before passing out.

" BLAKE!" Yang screamed.

Adam spun around hoping to attack Yang, only for someone to shoot the tip of _Wilt,_ sending him staggering back away from the unconscious Blake. Both Adam and Yang turned to see Rei standing there her sidearm in hand, her eyes filled with the burning rage to end the life of the man that ordered the bombing that claimed the lives of her family...

" ADAM TAURUS!" Rei exclaimed.

" Do I know you?" Adam said.

" Does the number 341 mean anything to you?!" Rei demanded.

" Oh yes, you're the sole survivor of the 341 bombing." Adam said, realizing who she was.

" Miss Xiao Long, take Belladonna and get her to safety, I'll cover you." Rei ordered.

" Okay." Yang said, grabbing the severely injured Blake.

" SHE'S NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" Adam screamed, charging the pairing only to punched across the rooftop by Rei.

Yang escaped through the door to the building while Adam scrambled to his feet, realizing that the girl he was now fighting has cybernetics to aid her in the fight...

" Why must you intervene when I was trying to even a score? She betrayed me!" Adam exclaimed.

" Really? I believe she did the right thing, abandoning a psycho like you." Rei remarked, drawing on of her swords.

" You're a swordfighter too, huh?" Adam said in a cocky tone.

" I've trained hard for this day, the day I get to kill you and avenge my family." Rei said, reading her blade.

" Really, because I can see is you in a shallow grave." Adam remarked before charging her.

They clashed blades in a violent manner, signifying the fight that would determine if Rei would achieve her vengeance. Even though Adam had a fast fighting style, Rei had trained herself to withstand such an assault, which had shown when was easily able to fend off Adam's attacks. When both of them were tired and exhausted, Adam felt that it was time to strike, so he swung his blade fast at Rei, but the unexpected happened. Rei swung her robotic arm so fast, it shattered the blade so fast right before Adam's eyes. She then extended a long blade from within her other arm, driving fast into his abdomen, piercing his heart...

" Do you feel that pain? It is the pain that I felt when I saw my mother's dead body on top of me, mixed with the fury of everyone you killed on that day you son of a bitch!" Rei said, pulling the blood-soaked blade out of his chest.

Adam fell to the ground, with his mask falling off his face, and shattering when it hit the ground. Rei immediately knew that the man she had spent 15 years training to fight was now dead...

" Mom, Dad, Keichi, rest easily in the heavens." Rei said.

She then picked up the body of the now-deceased body of the White Fang leader, walked over to the ledge that overlooked the entire battlefield. The sight of the bloodied and beaten cyborg girl made every White Fang soldier in the field stop and turn to her...

" WHITE FANG! YOUR REVOLUTION DIES WITH HIM!" Rei screamed at the top of her lungs, proceeding to raise the body of the dead White Fang Leader.

Every White Fang soldier looked up and was rendered speechless at the sight of the fact that their leader was slain, it threw their ranks into chaos. The Lieutenants Adam entrusted to lead the battle, felt as if a wave of fear had washed over their hearts. One of the lieutenants, a strong bear Faunus, looked around at how the battle was turning out, only to see death has come for them, which frightened him to his very core. He saw his fellow soldiers being impaled on Templar spears, being cut down left and right by the swords of the Templars and gunfire from the Atlas forces. He saw his fellows be taken down by arrows, in which he froze, froze at the sight of the blood of every soldier he trained being slaughtered, leaving him with no other choice but to make a decision he would get chastised for...

" FALL BACK! COME ON! WE'VE GOT TO GET OUT OF HERE!" The Lieutenant screamed to his men.

( _Narration by Cinder._ )

That is when I knew that everything I had worked so hard to build was being violently undone. The White Fang was in chaos, their leader was dead and they were being slaughtered by Xavier's army, so they retreated, I was immediately tipped off by Emerald...

" _Cinder, the White Fang's already pulling out, and Adam's flatlined."_ Emerald said into her scroll.

" What? Adam has been killed?" Cinder asked.

" _Yeah, Mercury got off the Kellogg but he said that he saw that kid Alex and his girlfriend Kayla heading for the ship that Torchwick's on!_ " Emerald explained.

" The battle's a distraction..." Cinder said.

" _What?_ " Emerald said.

" The Battle is a distraction, Xavier's trying to destroy our factions with one swift attack. That's why the Knights were here, they were focused on the White Fang!" Cinder said in a tone of realization.

" _Well, they've got a detachment heading for the hill to stop the Grimm horde that's coming up on that side._ " Emerald explained.

" That's because the Fang is out of the way. Listen, I want you to find Mercury and get out of here, don't Xavier or his team find you." Cinder ordered.

(Narration)

That's when I had realized something that I should have noticed before, when I first had set off his temper: I had awoken the fury of the Templar himself. The way I had noticed was when I tried to communicate with Emerald...

" Emerald? Emerald, are you there?" Cinder exclaimed into her scroll.

All Cinder could hear was the sound of a scroll being taken by someone different and Emerald's shaky breathing, like whoever was holding her scroll had terrified her...

" _Hello Cinder."_ Xavier said.

" YOU." Cinder said angrily.

" _I think you and your compatriots have overstayed your welcome."_ Xavier said with a snicker.

Meanwhile, elsewhere on Beacon's grounds...

Mercury was running through the school with the intent of finding Mercury so they could escape the school, but she was no where to be found. He struggled to evade the Templar's sights, so when he took a shortcut through the cafeteria, all of the doors slammed shut on him, with each of the windows slamming shut as well...

" What the hell? Who's doing this?" Mercury exclaimed.

" _Hehehe."_ A voice said.

" Sackett? Show yourself!" Mercury screamed.

All of a sudden, lights directly ahead of him kicked online, with Zach standing next to a series of large speakers with _Maddening Strife_ in hand. While he was focused on Zach, Blaze crept up from a shadowy mist that had been accumulating directly behind him...

" Hey, Mercury." Blaze said.

" Why are you leaving so soon, buddy?" Zach said into his microphone.

" Without saying goodbye?" How rude." Blaze remarked.

" _Well, I'm in deep Grimm shit._ " Mercury thought to himself.

On an Aletian cruiser...

Torchwick had just broken free alongside Neo, turning the ship's defenses against the other ones, followed by planning to upload Cinder's virus into the network. But before he could, the large window on the bridge of the ship exploded into a thousand pieces.

" What the hell?" Torchwick said.

" Hey Torchwick!" Kayla exclaimed.

Torchwick and Neo looked up to see Alex and Kayla standing in the now-open window, ready for combat. Alex held _Hyperion's Wave_ in a manner similar to a musician in the military would, while Kayla held her weapon, an energy violin called _Stirling's Heart,_ at the ready.

" We're tonight's special entertainment." Kayla said.

" Our performance for this evening is a symphony of ass-whooping with a side of you pissing yourself." Alex said with a determined tone.

" Well, we're gonna be a feisty audience." Roman said.

 **This concludes Chapter 14, as Cinder explains to the mysterious girl the story of how she suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Xavier and his team. We see three different situations play out for Mercury, Emerald, along with Torchwick and Neo. Mercury is trapped in a tight spot by the Sackett brothers, Torchwick and Neo are trapped on an Aletian airship and are about to face off against Alex and his girlfriend Kayla, leaving Emerald to face off against Xavier and a mystery ally (Penny). The reason for these situations was that it was all part of Xavier's "Templar Stratagem" which involved the use of the Knights-Templar to suppress the White Fang's involvement in their plans, Carson's team to sever the head of the White Fang leadership, and each of Xavier's teammates to terminate Cinder's supporters, one by one. The next chapter picks up with Cinder telling the mystery girl about the deaths of two individuals, and the events that lead to one of her own turning against her and shunning her.**

 **WAIT AND SEE.**


	15. Chapter 15: The sounds of hell

Chapter 15: The Sounds of Hell

The Shattered Doll Basement.

Kingdom of Vacuo.

3:01 pm

" What happened?" The girl asked.

" Xavier's stratagem had gone into effect, while they played coy about what I had been doing in the school, they were actually making allies behind the scenes. When they had enough, they leapt into action against me. They used the Templar army and Erwin Carson's team to crush the White Fang, knowing that one of Carson's teammates, Rei Cydan, had a history with the Fang. With the Fang out of the way, Xavier then instructed his teammates to proceed with phase two: targeting my personal allies directly." Cinder explained.

" They were dismantling everything you built." The girl said.

" Yes, their second force of Knights were in the city, alongside those mutants." Cinder said.

" What happened to your associates? Mercury? Roman? Emerald?" The Girl asked.

" Then you're gonna wish that you took a drink after you hear what I have to say." Cinder explained.

(Narration by Cinder)

The first ones to fall were Torchwick and Neo, as instructed by Xavier. He originally sent only his teammate Alex to face off against them since he was capable of holding his own against two, but his girlfriend Kayla wouldn't let him do the task alone, so she accompanied him to the airship for his task. Roman was about to upload the virus that I had infected the school's systems with when they intervened.

"Well now, If it ain't the legendary Alex2000 and his lady friend." Torchwick said in a mocking tone.

" Yeah, you could consider us tonight's special entertainment!" Kayla said.

" Yeah, so I suggest that you step away from that console and drop the scroll on the floor." Alex said, raising _Hyperion's Wave_ at Roman.

" Well that's not gonna happen." Roman said, pointing _Melodic Cudgel_ at Alex.

" Really? Because you're gonna need something bigger than this ship to stop ARES." Kayla said, pointing _Stirling's Heart_ at him.

" What?" Roman said as Kayla pulled out a radio.

" Reina? Has Xavier given the order?" Kayla asked.

" _Aye, ARES is a go._ " Reina responded.

" Okay, All ARES operators, Checkmate, I say again, Checkmate." Kayla said.

" _Copy your last, Songbird._ " Someone else on the radio said.

Neo watched as the massive air fleet deactivated their advanced stealth tech, revealing that they were carrying massive kinetic weapons that began to bombard the advancing Grimm hordes that descended upon Vale. She immediately grabbed Roman by his collar, dragging him over to the window to see.

" Have we got your attention now?" Alex said.

" _Roman? Are you there?_ " Cinder said into Roman's scroll.

" Cinder? Are freaking seeing this? How'd the hell did those things even get here?" Roman asked in a surprised tone.

" _My scouts at the wall are saying the Grimm advancing on the city are being thrown into retreat._ " Cinder explained.

" Well I'm not surprised that they are, because they have massive railguns being fired at them!" Roman said, now officially freaking out.

" _It gets worse, the boys are onto us, They've got an army that just crushed the Fang at the school._ " Cinder said before Alex shot Roman's scroll out of his hand.

" Hey!" Roman exclaimed.

" Please turn off all personal communication devices during the ass-whooping of a lifetime that you are about to receive." Alex said.

" That's it!" Roman said, firing his weapon at Alex.

Alex moved with great speed to avoid Roman's shots, while Kayla was immediately engaged into a fight with Neo by Neo herself. Alex demonstrated his superior skills with his " musical combat" fighting style, playing his guitar like he was actually in a famous band. Roman had major difficulty keeping up with the boys pace...

" WHY? WON'T? YOU? STAY? STILL?" Roman said.

" What's the matter, getting slow old man?" Alex said before striking him with a sound blast.

" Neo, fuck these two up, I've got to make sure the plan survives." Roman said to Neo.

Neo nodded at what her boss said, knocking Kayla back before trying to challenge Alex. Roman turned tail and ran back towards the blown-out window leading into the bridge, but Alex readied an overcharged shot while giving chase to him. He slid across the cold metal of the ship, releasing the shot as he stopped behind Roman. The laser went clean through Torchwick's back, exiting out his front and killing a Griffon that was flying overhead. Neo watched as he fell forward into the bridge, then proceeded to charge Alex in anger, but was stopped by an energy shot from _Stirling's Heart_ that hit her in the lower back, sending her flying towards the bridge.

" You alright, Kayla?" Alex shouted as she ran up.

" Little bitch knocked me about but I'm alright." Kayla explained.

They immediately hopped down into the bridge, watching as Neo crawled her way to the dying Roman, placing his head in her lap...

" What should we do about her?" Kayla asked.

" Leave her be, his death is more than a punishment enough for her." Alex said.

" Are you sure?" Kayla asked her boyfriend.

" Yeah, we've already contributed enough death for tonight." Alex said in a calm tone.

Alex immediately proceeded to the controls of the airship, turning it's defenses on the Grimm surrounding it. He then noticed Kayla staring down at the wounded Neo, listening to Roman's last words...

" _The(cough) Nightmare...begins._ " Roman said before passing.

Kayla watched as Neo began crying heavily, noticing blood on the ground behind her. Alex knew that Kayla had taken pity on the poor girl, knowing that she cared deeply about the man who was now dead on her lap. In the instant of the moment, he noticed the blood as well, then turned to Kayla...

" Who's blood is that?" Alex asked.

" It's hers, it's coming from the wound in her back." Kayla explained.

" Why don't you take her down to the infirmary, see if you can find something that can take care of that?" Alex said.

" Alex?" Kayla asked in a shocked tone.

" Look at her, we've already made her suffer enough, I think its only responsible that we try to ease her pain." Alex said in an emotional tone. " I may have agreed to Xavier's plan, but I'm nothing like them." He said, pointing at the Grimm.

" That's why I'm dating you." Kayla said.

Alex returned to the console, continuing to fire upon the Grimm, while Kayla bandaged the wound on Neo's back with some minor things from a first aid kit on the wall. She then exited the room, carrying Neo in her arms, with Neo clutching _Melodic Cudgel_ tightly, to the infirmary onboard. Alex immediately hopped on the radio, contacting Xavier...

" Xavier? You there?" Alex asked.

" _Yeah, I'm here."_ Xavier responded.

" Kayla and I got the ship, Torchwick's dead as well." Alex said.

" _Alright, Salazar said they've nearly got the city secure, but the airborne Grimm are making their task even more difficult."_ Xavier explained.

" So what do you want us to do?" Alex asked.

" _Help the troops down in the city, then head up to Beacon and start relocating the wounded to the city._ " Xavier said.

" Okay, and Xav?" Alex said.

" _Yes?_ " Xavier inquired.

" What should we do about Torchwick's little helper?" Alex asked.

" _I leave that up to you because I've got other matters to attend to._ " Xavier said before hanging up.

Alex steered the ship towards the city, obliterating any Grimm that had crossed his path. He quickly called up Kayla on the intercom, after she had just tended to Neo's wound...

" _He's leaving what happens to her up to us?_ " Kayla said in a surprised tone.

" Yeah, he's probably trying to proceed with the plan amidst the chaos at Beacon." Alex said.

" _Yeah._ " Kayla said.

" Anyway, how's she doing?" Alex asked.

" _The wound's stopped bleeding, though..."_ Kayla said.

" You sound like you're disturbed by it." Alex said.

" _Her spine has been damaged, she's gonna be paralyzed from the waist down._ " Kayla explained.

" Man, that's rough." Alex said.

(Voices of the two)

" They paralyzed her from the waist down?" She said.

" Yeah, she's been confined to a wheelchair lately." Cinder explained.

" So what happened to her after the incident?" The girl asked.

" She decided the criminal life wasn't for her after prison, so she's trying to live a civilian life now while being an advisor to the local police in Vale." Cinder said.

" What happened to the others?" The girl asked.

" The next one to fall was Mercury, his death was the most brutal." Cinder said before taking a drink.

Beacon Academy Cafeteria

7:01 pm

Mercury was now standing a trap set by the Sackett brothers, as they were given the instruction to subdue or eliminate him per Xavier's plan. Blaze was surrounded by a shadowy mist while his brother stood with a high-tech set up of weaponized speakers.

" Hey guys, I thought you'd be helping clean the remaining White Fang in the school." Mercury said.

" Nah, The Templars have that part covered, our job is to deal with you." Zach said in a sinister tone.

" Me? Why am I so important?" Mercury asked.

" First, you and your posse of pals threatened our friends." Blaze said, readying his weapons.

" Second, Your boss tried to have us killed because we knew what she was up to." Zach said.

" Finally, your associates murdered a friend of ours and tried to frame one of our own for it." Blaze added.

" Come on guys, how do I fit into all this?" Mercury asked.

" Simple, We're rattling your boss's cage." Zach said.

" We hope your death will do the trick." Blaze said with a smile.

" WHAT?" Mercury said in a shocked tone.

" Blaze, do you still have that playlist I made for you?" Zach asked his brother.

" Yeah." Blaze responded.

" Better pop the earbuds in because it is about to get real loud in this room." Zach said.

Blaze immediately got the message his brother was sending him, so he pulled out a pair of earbuds and put them in his ears. Mercury noticed something glowing in a pocket on Blaze's uniform, which was revealed to be a modified MP3 player, in which he clicked on a playlist labeled " Nightmare Shadow" and pressed play. Blaze felt immense power surge through his body, then looked upon Mercury with blood red irises resting in his eyes.

" Hey Mercury, you should have gotten a better job." Zach said as he was reading his set-up.

" What's going on with your brother?" Mercury asked, now sounding scared.

" Oh, you noticed that." Zach started. " It's a little trick Blaze found that he can do, when he listens to certain songs, it can influence how fast he moves in a fight. Its one of the many tricks he had received as a gift from the Breach." He explained.

" So what do you have him listening to?" Mercury asked.

" Just some stuff from our world." Zach said.

Blaze charged Mercury faster that anything he had seen before, swinging the katanas he carried with tremendous force. Mercury desperately tried to fend off Blaze's assault the best he could, until he tried to flee out the windows. Zach played a weaponized version of Billy Joel's _We didn't start the fire,_ causing a wall of fire to block all of the windows, trapping him in.

" That fire we really did start." Zach said in a joking tone.

" Really, a joke?" Mercury exclaimed.

Zach didn't care as he continued to blare the music, songs by artists varied in their effects since Zach had weaponized them for the use of warfare. Blaze's powerful strikes eventually depleted Mercury's aura, so his response was to shoot Mercury in his left prosthetic leg with an explosive _Dragon Fire_ cartridge Xavier had made for him. The Cartridge released heated shards of fire dust upward into the stump that had remained, severely wounding Mercury.

" AHHH! What did you just shoot me with?" Mercury exclaimed as he leaned against the wall.

" You like? It's called _Dragon Fire,_ it's an explosive pistol round Xav made for me to use at this current moment." Blaze remarked.

" I don't like it! How the hell did you even find out about our plans anyway?!" Mercury demanded.

" You can thank Emerald for being the reason that everything your boss worked so hard to build is now being reduced to ashes." Zach said as he hit a switch on one of the speakers.

" What the hell are you talking about?" Mercury demanded as Zach's speakers teleported away.

" Let us spell it out for ya, we took your friend Emerald while she was at Amity Coliseum to someplace off grid, in which she spilled the beans about everything after we tortured the hell out of her. How else do you think we found out about the fake legs?" Blaze said.

" Cinder's gonna kill you, you know that?!" Mercury exclaimed.

" Really, she tried the first time, all that did was piss us off." Zach explained.

" What the hell are you, you freaks!" Mercury demanded.

Zach turned to his brother, who was now developing an angered and sinister look on his face, with large amounts of shadow mist appearing beside him...

" If we're the freaks, then that means you are nothing but dog food." Blaze said as two glowing red eyes appeared in the mist clouds beside him.

Zach watched as the mist transformed into two dog-like creatures, both the size of two full-grown sheep dogs. Blaze pointed to Mercury and muttered something that compelled the dogs to rush forward with tremendous speed and attack Mercury. Zach decided to ask his brother what he had just summoned while blood began to soak the floor...

" Blaze?" Zach asked in a cautious tone.

" Yeah?" Blaze asked in a normal tone.

" What did you just summon?" He inquired.

" Oh, Shadow hounds, they've got quite the appetites aside from being just sentient shadow mass." Blaze explained.

" Oh, just wanted some clarification." Zach said.

" Okay, time to survey the damage." Blaze said, dismissing the shadow hounds.

They looked down that the brutalized remains of Mercury, which had amused Blaze. Mercury's face was severely lacerated, his entire front side was bloodied, his other prosthetic had been torn off, and both of his arms had wide open gaps that exposed bone. The two boys then proceeded to exit the building, looking to a nearby rooftop to see an explosion...

" Looks like Xavier's got his hands full with Emerald." Zach remarked.

" Yeah, but she doesn't know that he's got this planned out." Blaze said.

" So, what do we do now?" Zach asked.

" _Attention, this is Ashlyn and Jupiter, to anybody listening on this frequency, we need support at the back of the school as Grimm are advancing non-stop."_ Ashlyn said into the radio.

" Ashlyn, this is Blaze and Zach, we're on our way." Blaze responded.

" How are we going to get back there?" Zach asked.

" I've got that covered." Blaze said, summoning two hippogriff shadow creatures.

" You love showing off don't you?" Zach said.

" HEY!" Blaze said in his defense.

(Voice of the two)

" They brutalized him?" The girl said in a horrified tone.

" Yes, they left his broken body like that as a message to me." Cinder said.

" Was it true? Did your associate Emerald really break under the pressure?" The girl asked.

" I already knew she had broke under their torture, but my pride made me believe that they were not capable of stopping me." Cinder said.

" The way you knew that was when Mercury paid the price for it?" The girl said.

" ( _Taking a drink_ ) Yep, when he died, I knew Emerald was going to be next." Cinder said.

" So what did you do?" The girl inquired.

" I raced to get to her before they did, because I started hearing it." Cinder said.

" Hearing what?" The girl said.

" The Sounds of Hellhounds on the hunt." Cinder said.

" How is that possible?" The girl asked in a confused tone.

" It happens when you come to a certain point in your life, a moment when everything you have taken for granted or taken pride in, is being violently destroyed all around you." Cinder explained.

" What happened to Emerald?" The girl asked.

" The sounds of hell got louder after I saw what they had done to her." Cinder explained.

That statement made the girl who had come to see her to learn her story with one major question in mind: IS THIS WOMAN STILL SANE?

 **This chapter ends with The mysterious visitor to Cinder beginning to question the sanity of the young woman who had been sitting beside her, drinking her sorrows away. Mercury has been slain by a combined effort of the ruthless Sackett brothers, and hostile Grimm are converging on the rear of Beacon. The Battle of Vale may look like it is being ended easily, but it is actually the most devastating conflict to ever plague the city (details will be released in the aftermath chapter.) The next chapter will start with how the hostilities in the city are being resolved, Xavier and Emerald's fight will reach a shocking conclusion, and Cinder will ready herself for the ultimate showdown between her and Xavier.**

 **WAIT AND SEE.**


	16. Chapter 16: Blindsided

Chapter 16: Blindsided.

 **This chapter contains serious graphic content. Reader discretion is advised.**

Vale Streets.

7: 09 pm.

The once civilized streets of Vale were now a Grimm-filled combat zone, with warriors fighting off waves of Grimm that charged them. Ironwood was coordinating his forces while Goodwitch organized the Beacon Students who decided to fight in the city. Qrow was following alongside a group Aletian robots in suppressing Grimm that were advancing towards the city center, but they were starting to get overwhelmed, leaving Qrow to fend for himself. Until he received an unlikely rescue...

" All right, you big bastards, come on!" Qrow said before a Grimm was killed by a series of quills.

He looked towards the direction that the quills came from, and what he saw had shocked him. What had stood at the end of the street was the mutated STMD, growling like the Grimm variants they had taken the form of thanks to the mutagen.

" Who are you?!" Qrow exclaimed in confusion.

" The ones saving you drunken ass, old man!" Tobias shouted as the Grimm turned hostile towards them.

" All right boys, who's up for a good Ol' fashioned prison brawl?!" Selene exclaimed.

" Wait...Selene?!" Qrow said, now realizing who she was.

Selene didn't bother responding as she and her teammates were immediately engaged in a fight with the Grimm with great speed. They each took on a different Grimm, using their own combat methods...

" Mike, Grand Slam!" Dominic shouted to his teammate.

" Coming right up!" Mike said.

Mike hurtled Dominic across the air, and Dominic came crashing down a group of Beowolves with a whirlwind strike, sending them flying in different directions. While they were beating down the Beowolves, Selene and Tobias were preforming their combo attacks...

" All right boys, class is in session, so take your seats." Selene said to the Grimm that surrounded them both.

" Tonight's lesson...how much a stampede hurts." Tobias said as the Grimm charged forward.

" RAZOR POINT!" Selene shouted.

" Coming right up!" Tobias responded.

Selene and Tobias slaughtered the Grimm around them with a combination of Tobias's quills and Selene's razor-sharp claws. The efficiency and prowess of the mutated individuals to kill over a dozen Grimm had left Qrow speechless at the sight. Selene decided to talk to him while her teammates fended off Grimm reinforcements...

" Hey, old man." Selene said.

" How did? How Did?" Qrow said, trying to find the words to speak.

" We become like this? You can thank KRC13 for that." Selene explained.

" KRC13?" Qrow asked.

" It's a mutagenic compound that was developed by a shell company of the Blossom Club." Selene explained.

" I should have figured Reina's group would be involved." Qrow said.

" You guessed right, who else would have created an army of auto-rebuilding clockwork androids, dress them up like knights and give control of them to someone who's nickname is " The Templar." Selene stated.

" Wait, those knights are loyal to Xavier?" Qrow said in a surprised tone.

" Yep, and apparently the kid is something called a "Sentinel"." Tobias said as he joined the conversation.

" What?" Qrow asked before his scroll went off.

" You'd better answer that, we're going to clean up the streets." Selene said, leaving to join her team in sweeping through the streets.

" Hello?" Qrow said, answering his scroll.

" _Uncle Qrow?_ " Yang said in a scared tone.

" Yang?" Qrow said immediately.

" _Uncle Qrow, we need serious help up at Beacon."_ Yang said.

" What's wrong kiddo, sounds like you've been crying." Qrow said.

" _It's Blake! She's hurt really bad!"_ Yang exclaimed.

" Calm down, where are you two?" Qrow asked.

" _We're at the docks, there's a lot of wounded and scared people here. Those knights that had shown up are the only_ _thing keeping the Grimm back."_ Yang explained.

" Stay safe, I'll be there with enough rides and help for the wounded as soon as I can." Qrow said to reassure her.

" _Please hurry, there's just so much blood._ " Yang said before the call canceled out.

Qrow raced as fast as he could to the area that was being fortified by Ironwood's men, where Goodwitch was organizing the troop's efforts...

" Glynda, we've got a problem." Qrow said as he ran up to her.

" Qrow? What is it?" Glynda asked.

" Yang just contacted me, there's a lot of wounded folks at the Beacon docks who need an airlift out of there." Qrow explained.

" Oh my god." Goodwitch said.

" I can help with that." A voice said near them.

Goodwitch and Qrow turned to see to Beowolves be cut down by Reina herself, who was wearing full combat gear while wielding her weapons, dual bladed pistols named _Marshall_ and _Rally._ She didn't wear anything to hide her scarred face...

" Reina?" Goodwitch said in a surprised tone.

" Professor Goodwitch, it's been a long time since I was a student at Beacon." Reina said.

" Yes, it most certainly has." Goodwitch said.

" Where'd your injuries come from?" Qrow asked, trying to be respectful.

" You can thank Roman Torchwick for these back when I was dating him." Rein explained.

" Okay, how can you help us?" Goodwitch asked.

" I can have a large group of paramedics assembled to aid the wounded, all they'll need is the transportation." Reina said.

" I'll organize some airships and transports to head to Beacon. Have the medics report to the docks here in the city." Goodwitch said.

" Understood, ma'am." Reina said.

" Quick question, where'd did those come from?" Qrow asked, pointing to the ARES ships.

" Those are actually Xavier's idea, just assembled by my organization." Reina said.

" Reina." Goodwitch said.

" Yes?" Reina asked.

" Whatever happens, it's good to see you again, old friend." Goodwitch said.

" You too, ma'am." Reina responded.

Goodwitch left the Aletian troops in Qrow's care, leaving to organize a fleet of Airships to proceed to Beacon in order to evacuate the wounded. She spearheaded the effort, riding with the paramedics and their security details up to Beacon. As the airships arrived, the first thing Goodwitch were Templar knights forming a defensive line to block Grimm that were still lurking on the grounds, protecting a lot of non-combatants. The docks were littered with the wounded students and Aletian troops. She saw students holding an injured friend or loved one in their arms, soldiers trying their best to help both their own and the students...

" _My god, how bad did the situation here deteriorate?_ " Goodwitch thought.

As the airships docked and the paramedics and security soldiers poured out of them, Goodwitch approached an Aletian student who was trying to calm down some panicking kids...

" You kids alright?" Goodwitch asked.

" We're fine, they're just really shaken up. Their siblings are hurt pretty bad." The student explained.

" Why is there so many wounded?" She asked.

" I can explain that." A familiar voice said behind her.

Goodwitch turned around to see Professor Oobleck standing behind her, with Port off helping another group of injured students...

" Bartholomew, how did you and James escape Amity?" Goodwitch asked.

" We were picked up actually, by Miss Saldorano before she joined you in the city. She dropped us off here as she knew that they needed help." Oobleck said, referring to the students.

" Where's Miss Xiao Long? Qrow asked me to see if she was alright." Goodwitch said.

" She's over there." Oobleck said, pointing to Yang.

Goodwitch hurried over to Yang, leaving Oobleck to aid the wounded alongside the paramedics. But when she got over to her, she had seen what Oobleck had failed to see, that Yang had the injured Blake resting in her lap. She saw tears welling up in Yang's at the sight of her injured friend...

" What happened?" Goodwitch asked.

" The White Fang leader attacked her. Before that cyborg chick, Rei, killed him." Yang said with a broken voice.

Goodwitch immediately looked at Blake's abdomen wound, noticing that it was still bleeding even after the shoulder wound had stopped already...

" It hasn't stopped. I don't think it'll ever stop." Yang said in a terrified voice.

" Hey, She will pull through." Goodwitch said, trying to calm her before standing up. " HEY! I NEED SOME HELP OVER HERE!" She shouted to some Paramedics.

A female paramedic came rushing over with a large red bag slung over her shoulder, followed by two men carrying a stretcher...

" What happened?" The paramedic asked.

" Severe sword wound to the abdomen, the wound's still bleeding." Goodwitch explained.

" Must have damaged an artery cluster, Rodriguez, Barnes, get her on an airship and get her to the safe zone in the city." The paramedic ordered.

" Yes, ma'am." Barnes said.

The two men loaded up the wounded Blake onto the stretcher, then proceeded to rush her towards the docks to get her onto an airship to the city. Yang then proceeded to turn towards the school, only to be stopped by Goodwitch...

" What are you doing?" Goodwitch asked.

" I need to find Ruby and get her out here." Yang said.

" Not right now, you aren't." Goodwitch said.

" What?" Yang said in disbelief.

" Miss Belladonna needs you right now, you should be there if she wakes up." Goodwitch said.

" What about my sister?" Yang asked.

" I'll look for her myself, right now just go with Blake." Goodwitch said.

Yang gave in to Goodwitch's orders and left with the others, while Goodwitch proceeded to advance into Beacon in search of Ruby. Passing by the cafeteria, she saw the lifeless body of Mercury Black with a shadow hound standing over him before being destroyed by her.

" _How could a shadow hound be here?_ " Goodwitch thought.

" You're probably wondering who did this?" A voice said behind her.

Goodwitch turned around to see an Aletian student wearing a bloodied uniform, with a shocked expression on her face...

" Is that?" Goodwitch said as she faced the girl.

" No, it's not my blood, White Fang soldier got mauled by a Grimm after he tried to corner me." The girl explained.

" Who did this? Who summoned the shadow hound?" Goodwitch asked.

" It was those boys, the Sackett brothers." The girl explained.

" The Sackett Brothers did this?" Goodwitch asked.

" Yes, they took him on together before leaving." The girl explained. " Can I go home now?" She asked.

" Sure, head for the docks, there are airships awaiting to evacuate non-combatants from the school." Goodwitch said.

The girl left the teacher to go to the docks in order to escape the chaotic mess that Beacon was left in. As the girl left Goodwitch's sight, she immediately continued her search for Ruby while Emerald was in for a rude awakening...

Beacon Academy East Courtyard, outside CCT tower.

7:16 pm

Emerald was trembling in fear before Xavier, who surprised her and threatened her mentor with her own scroll, then proceeding to crush it with his new robotic arm. Penny hid in the shadows, waiting for the moment Xavier would allow her back in the fight.

" I thought you would be dead." Emerald said in a slightly scared tone.

" Really? Because all Cinder did was piss me off." Xavier remarked.

Emerald swung her weapons at him, but he mysteriously teleported out of the way and knocked her across the courtyard with a swing of his robotic arm...

" That was rude you know!" Xavier said.

" What the hell have you become?" Emerald said.

" Its something called The Sentinel of Fall, have you heard of it?" Xavier remarked, kicking Emerald.

" The mark found a successor already?" Emerald said through the pain in her side.

" Yes, but you what? I think its time for a very special match of the Vytal Festival Tournament!" Xavier said.

" _What the hell is he doing?_ " Emerald thought.

" Tonight's match is brought to you by random acts of violence, as Emerald Sustrai fights against the newly-rebuilt Penny Polendina!" Xavier exclaimed.

" Wait, what?!" Emerald said.

She watched as Penny leapt from the shadows and land right in front of her, leaving her speechless at the sight of her return...

" Penny, show this troublemaker how we handle criminals in the Templars." Xavier said.

" Will do!" Penny said with a smile.

Xavier teleported back away from the two girls, in which Emerald attempted to lash out Penny, only for her weapons to explode as Penny used her new Immolation ability that was part of her upgrades. She attacked Emerald relentlessly, until her aura was depleted...

" Wow, you got fast." Xavier said with a surprised tone.

" Well, The Blossom Club did upgrade me." Penny said.

" Remind me to send them a thank you note." Xavier said jokingly.

" Killing me...will not do shit to stop Cinder!" Emerald exclaimed.

" Who said he's gonna kill you?" Penny said.

" What?" Emerald asked.

Xavier faced Emerald with sinister intent, which his eyes glowed white. Emerald felt that her body couldn't move at all, she couldn't even close her eyes, like some unseen force was holding her still in place. Fear had overwhelmed her body, but in a single moment, her arms began feel as if some unseen force was dragging them towards her face...

" What's happening?" Emerald said, sounding terrified.

" Your punishment for siding with the losing team." Xavier said.

" What are you doing?" Emerald demanded.

" It's a new little trick I learned, I can basically direct a person's body against the individual's will." Xavier explained.

" Wait! Please, don't hurt me!" Emerald begged as her fingers rested around her eyes.

" They say that the eyes are the windows to the soul, which means each individual is like an open book, but that rule...doesn't apply to you anymore." Xavier said with an angered tone.

Emerald began to scream loudly as her fingers began to wrap themselves around her eyes inside her head, causing blood to trickle down her face. Xavier used his ability to pull her hands back slowly, making her feel every antagonizing moment as he made her violently pull out her own eyes. Penny turned around as she was a little appalled by what he was doing, which Xavier had caught notice to...

" Why don't go see if Ashlyn and Jupiter need help, I'm sorry that I didn't tell you earlier." Xavier told Penny.

" That's okay." Penny said before leaving.

Emerald felt the nerves that had held onto her eyes break, which meant they were now out of her head. Blood had coated her face and around the empty sockets, while she handed her own eyes to Xavier, being unable to resist.

" You would have been a hell of a Templar." Xavier said, using the power of his cross to transform her eyes into Emerald gems.

He walked away, leaving Emerald to wallow in the pain of the torture she had just been forced to preform on herself against her will. In that moment, Emerald heard footsteps approaching from in front of her, which had alarmed her a little...

" Who...Who's there?" Emerald demanded.

" Just someone who is saddened that the most innocent individuals have descended into darkness." The voice said, sounding male.

" What are you talking about?" Emerald said as she felt the individual sat her up.

" I heard great things about that kid, but I now feel that those things were a smokescreen." The guy said.

" I can't believe he made me do that." Emerald said with her voice breaking.

" Hey, hey, don't cry." The guy said, hugging her.

" I don't know if I can anymore!" Emerald exclaimed.

" Hey, you luckier than that other kid. The one with the metal legs." The guy said.

" Mercury? Where is he?" Emerald said in a concerned tone.

" I'm sorry, he's gone." The guy said.

" What? He left the school?" Emerald said.

" No, he's _gone._ " The guy said.

Emerald collapsed into sadness, realizing what the guy was trying to tell her with a softened blow. He was trying to tell her that her partner and closest friend was now dead, slain on the grounds of the school, while she was powerless to resist Xavier's fury. He pulled out a blackened cloth from his pocket, then proceeded to wrap it around her eyeless sockets...

" What's your name?" Emerald asked.

" I'm Kai." He said.

" I'm Emerald." She responded.

Kai was a member of an order of Warrior-monks that lived in seclusion somewhere in Vale, as Kai wore their traditional style garb. He stood Emerald up, then proceeded to walk out of the courtyard with her at his side, being the guide due to her injuries. Cinder watched from a distance, tears had filled her eyes as she had witnessed what had transpired...

(Voice of the two.)

" When I saw what he did, my suspicions were confirmed." Cinder said.

" Your suspicions?" The girl asked.

" I had began to develop a fear that he truly was becoming the Next Sentinel of Fall, they were confirmed when I saw that power he could do." Cinder said.

" You saw his powers?" The girl said.

" I watched his progress throughout the course of my time in Beacon, the power I saw him wield rivaled that of my own." Cinder said, pouring another drink.

" What kind of power can he wield?" The girl asked.

" The power to summon an energy blast that obliterated a horde of Grimm when he was in danger, the rune summoning, the telekinesis, the teleportation, the ability to manipulate another person's aura against them, all of these abilities I had witnessed Scar use when we killed him." Cinder explained.

" What was Scar like?" The girl asked.

" He was a member of a nomadic warrior tribe called The _Velasiri,_ warriors known for their prowess and skill in combat. Scar was unique among them, since he was chosen to be the Sentinel, they revered him like he was a god. Their religion dictated that a servant of the maidens was a sacred individual, deserving recognition for their role in the course of history." She explained.

" They worshipped the Maidens and the Sentinels?" The girl asked.

" Yeah." Cinder said.

" What became of Emerald?" The girl said, bringing the story back on track.

" I let her leave with that boy, because I knew she would resent me for everything that I had done." Cinder said. " But my goals were clear now, because I saw that bastard as he walked away towards Ruby as she approached." She said.

" What goals were set before you?" The girl asked.

" HE HAD TO DIE." Cinder said angrily.

 **This chapter concludes with Emerald being blinded by Xavier, who made her tear out her own eyes using a new Sentinel ability he had developed. This is the beginning of the end for Cinder, her followers either died or were injured by Xavier and his team, her allies scattered, her plans torn apart, everything she had worked so hard to build destroyed. She was now desperate and blinded by her rage, she was willing to anything to avenge what she has lost. The next chapter is the tip of the spear, ladies and gentleman, it all comes down this, the ultimate battle between two warriors is about to begin. But only one will rise above pain, while the other will succumb to it...**

 **WAIT AND SEE, readers.**


	17. Chapter 17: Ruler of the skies

Chapter 17: Ruler of the skies.

Beacon Academy Eastern Courtyard.

7:20 pm

Rage and anger stirred within Cinder as everything she worked so hard to build was falling apart, three of her allies were dead, the Grimm were being routed, The White Fang were in chaos, The Blossom Club had turned against her, Emerald was stripped of her sight, all of this was done by a boy who wasn't even from Remnant! This was now her last stand...

" Xavier!" Ruby exclaimed as she ran up.

" Ruby? What are you doing here?" Xavier asked.

" I came to get you, they need help suppressing the Grimm converging on the rear of the building." Ruby said.

" So you decided to tell me when I am in close proximity to the CCT tower." Xavier pointed out.

While they conversed, Cinder angrily stood up, raising her bow with an arrow prepped to kill Xavier for all he had done...

(Voice of the two)

" What were you hoping?" The girl asked.

" I hoped to hit him in a spot that would end his life. I felt that I was precise with my shot, but..." Cinder explained.

" What happened?" The girl asked.

" I missed." Cinder said, taking a drink.

" Where'd did your arrow hit?" The girl asked.

" The one person it shouldn't have." Cinder said, with remorse in her tone.

Cinder was right, the arrow she had shot missed Xavier completely and found itself impacting in Ruby's abdomen, sending her flying backward and being knocked out cold as her head impacted on the concrete ground. Blood slowly started to trickle out of the wound as the arrow had exploded, causing severe shrapnel injuries. Cinder was infuriated at the fact she missed, but Xavier was about to unleash hell when Weiss turned the corner...

" RUBY!" Weiss exclaimed.

Cinder fired another arrow, this time she was aiming at Weiss, only for the arrow to shatter on impact with a bright, white cross that had shielded her. Xavier then used his telekinetic abilities, hurling Cinder back a couple of feet.

" Weiss, take Ruby and get out of here." Xavier ordered.

" What about you?" Weiss asked as she scooped the unconscious Ruby into her arms.

" I'll take care of this bitch." Xavier said, drawing _Eternal Judgment._

Weiss noticed that Xavier's irises were glowing white, which meant she needed to retreat quickly as shit was about to get real. She ran towards the docks with Ruby in her arms, while Xavier readied himself to battle the now-desperate Cinder...

" You're gonna regret doing that!" Xavier angrily exclaimed.

" I was aiming towards you." Cinder responded.

" Well, prepare to get your ass whooped for hurting my friend." Xavier said, transforming _Eternal Judgment_ into it's axe form.

He charged Cinder with great speed, inciting their battle. The young man knew his advantages and Cinder's as well, he was built with a tank-like combat style while Cinder was built with more of a finesse combat style. He used a combo of fast and strong strikes in his attacks, while she was more focused on precision and speed.

" YOU'VE RUINED EVERYTHING I BUILT!" Cinder exclaimed.

" Yeah, because you're insane!" Xavier said, sending her staggering back, only for her to clash blades with him again.

" I was going to make this world better! I was going to show the world that Huntsmen and Huntresses aren't always the solution!" Cinder explained.

" You were going to enslave the world! You were going to turn them on each other so people surrender their freedoms...TO YOU!" Xavier shouted.

" They deserve to be ruled!" Cinder said.

" NOT BY YOU!" Xavier responded, throwing her back.

While they clashed blades violently, Grimm started to appear in the eastern courtyard, but these Grimm were under siege by Ashlyn and Jupiter...

" The Sentinel's engaged the Maiden's attacker!" Ashlyn said.

" We'll cover his back." Jupiter said, killing a creep.

The two sisters combated the advancing Grimm with a combined attack with their abilities. Eventually, Ashlyn was knocked down by a Beowulf, only to be saved by Jupiter, who blasted the Grimm off her sister. She helped her sister up, looking to see that they were completely surrounded...

" We're completely surrounded!" Ashlyn said.

" We're completely fucked!" Jupiter exclaimed.

" There's only one way we can get out of this." Jupiter pointed out.

" You want to try it?" Ashlyn said.

" Yes." Jupiter responded.

" All right." Ashlyn said.

Jupiter straightened up Ashlyn, then conjured a bright, blue energy ball in her right hand. Ashlyn summoned a similar one in her left hand, causing the two clockwork girls to disappear in a bright blue mist, filling the courtyard with the sound of metal taking shape. The mist dispersed rapidly, revealing that Ashlyn and Jupiter had transformed into a tall girl in golden armor, with long golden hair. Her face was shielded by a mask that was the same color as the armor...

" _I am...The fury of the sun._ " The girl said.

The girl unleashed a barrage of beams that were so hot, that they disintegrated the Grimm that they had touched in a violent manner. She killed any Grimm that had converged on the location, while Xavier combated Cinder, who was holding her back barely as she was pressing her blades forward...

" After I kill you, I'll make your friends suffer for what they did to Emerald, Mercury, and Roman!" Cinder declared.

" Not...on...my...WATCH!" Xavier shouted, with his eyes glowing bright white.

He threw her back again, but this time he had transformed into a winged knight that was white and gold. He was enormous, almost the size of the statue that was easily seen in the school's main courtyard, clutching _Eternal Judgment_ with just one hand.

" Wow, this is a neat trick." Xavier said in his altered voice.

" What the hell?" Cinder said.

" Now, let's have a real fight!" Xavier said.

While Xavier combated Cinder in the Sentinel form, Weiss hurried to get the injured Ruby out of the school...

Beacon Academy docks

7:30 pm

Weiss carried the injured Ruby towards the Beacon docks, where paramedics and now Aletian soldiers that were commanded by Qrow, were in the process of relocating the remaining staff members and students into the city until it was confirmed clear of Grimm.

" Hey! I NEED SOME HELP OVER HERE!" Weiss shouted.

The only person to hear her shout was Qrow himself, which he immediately rushed over to Weiss and his injured niece...

" I got her!" Qrow said, lowering Ruby down as Sun and Coco rushed up.

" What the heck happened?" Sun asked.

" Cinder did this, she got in a fight with Xavier and tried to shoot him." Cinder said.

" What she do? Miss?" Coco exclaimed.

" Apparently." Weiss said.

" Well, let's ask her, because she's flying right towards us." Sun pointed out.

They looked to see Cinder flying towards them at great speeds, crashing into the hard concrete of the area in front of the group. She was beaten and bloodied, her dress was torn, and she was struggling to get to her feet. Her aura was depleted and she finally got to her feet, facing the group with a look on her face which meant that she was in pain. Her pain worsened when something impacted in her upper back, which was caused by a white chain that was cast by the Sentinel that had stood behind her.

" _What was once stolen... has now been reclaimed._ " The Sentinel said.

The chain drained the power out Cinder, leaving her helpless and vulnerable. The chain retreated, causing her to fall forward crying as she now officially beaten and everything she had built was torn apart. The Sentinel transformed back into Xavier, and he walked up to the now speechless group...

" What? I'm not gonna be coughing up feathers anytime soon." Xavier remarked.

" How'd you do that?!" Sun asked in a surprised tone.

" It's coming natural to me now." Xavier simply responded.

" That's natural to you?" Coco said in disbelief.

" Yeah, one of the perks of having this cross on my hand." Xavier said.

" That cross allowed you to turn into that?" Qrow explained.

" It's called a Sentinel, Qrow, I would tell you more, but then I would be spoiling story time for the kids." Xavier said jokingly.

" Sun, can you two take Ruby to the paramedics and tell the soldiers we have a prisoner for them?" Qrow asked.

" Sure thing, sir." Sun said, picking the unconscious Ruby.

Sun and Coco walked away with the unconscious Ruby, only to return later with Aletian soldiers and a paramedic for the beaten Cinder. Qrow and Xavier walked of to the side to talk about his newest trick and his cross...

" So, how do you so much about being a Sentinel?" Qrow asked.

" Reina explained it to me, the Sentinels are the Maiden's last line of defense when the main protectors and the Vanguard fail." Xavier explained.

" Vanguard?" Qrow asked.

" They're like you guys, but they protect The Sentinels instead of the Maidens." Xavier said. " The reason Amber was vulnerable was that her Sentinel, my predecessor, was killed before the attack on Amber occurred." He added.

" So you take out the Sentinel, the maiden is going to be vulnerable." Qrow figured.

" That's why it was so easy for Cinder and her teammates to attack Amber and get away with a portion of her power." Xavier pointed out.

" So she was the assailant?" Qrow said.

" Yeah, she was." Xavier said.

" So what was that little light show, you did?" Qrow asked.

" I took back what was stolen, I reclaimed Amber's stolen power." Xavier explained.

" So we can wake her up." Qrow said.

" Yeah, but we should probably calm things down here before they deteriorate again." Xavier said.

" Agreed." Qrow said.

Xavier and his team regrouped on the reclaimed Aletian ship, then proceeded to aid the combined forces of the Aletian military, Xavier's Templars, the local huntsmen and huntresses, and the Beacon students who were still participating in the fighting in purging the remaining Grimm from the city while ARES pushed back the advancing hordes. Their actions secured caused the Grimm swarm to quickly crumble, with them all retreating back into the forests from whence they came, symbolizing their victory over the Grimm.

Patch

Kingdom of Vale.

9:00 am

The Next day.

Ruby was unconscious in her bed back at her home of Patch since she was injured by Cinder in the school courtyard. She was changed into her PJs, and her injuries were bandaged up, so as she came to, she was greeted by her father, Taiyang.

" Ruby, thank god that you're awake." Taiyang exclaimed.

" Dad? What happened?" Ruby said, trying to sit up.

" Here, let me help." Taiyang said, helping her sit up.

" I remember...an arrow... and Cinder." Ruby said, trying to recollect the events that lead up to her being here.

" Oh, they did say you hit your head after receiving your injuries, so let me fill in the blanks for you." Taiyang started. " You were shot by Cinder with an arrow when she was actually trying to kill your friend, Xavier." He explained.

" Where is she now?" Ruby asked.

" In an Aletian jail cell." Weiss said.

Ruby turned to see Weiss standing in the doorway of her bedroom, with a look of relief on her face knowing that her team captain was okay. She walked over to her bedside, when Ruby's stomach let out a growl that both her and Taiyang heard...

" You must be hungry." Taiyang said.

" From what the beast down there said, yeah." Ruby said in a joking tone.

" I'll go whip something up for ya, want anything, Weiss?" Taiyang asked.

" Just some tea, Mr. Xiao Long." Weiss responded.

" Please, call me Tai." He said.

" Okay." Weiss said before he left the room.

Taiyang exited the room to go make something to eat for Ruby and some tea for Weiss, leaving the two girls alone in the room to talk...

" So, what happened while I was out?" Ruby asked.

" Well, to put it short, we won." Weiss said.

" We won?" Ruby said in a surprised tone.

" Yeah, Xavier and his team rallied everyone and cleared out the remaining Grimm that were in the city and the school." Weiss explained.

" Where are they now? Where's Yang?" Ruby asked.

" Yang's at the hospital with Blake, and the guys are helping calm things down." Weiss responded.

" What's Yang doing at the hospital?" Ruby said.

" Blake got hurt pretty bad when she fought the guy in charge of the White Fang, so Yang got her out of there before the guy took on some cyborg girl." Weiss said.

" Oh." Ruby said.

" Anyway, Beacon's gonna be closed down for awhile so it can be repaired and all travel between kingdoms is currently on hold." Weiss said.

" Really?" Ruby said in a surprised tone.

" Yeah, your dad was nice enough to allow me to spend the night here for the time being, even talked it over with my dad." Weiss said.

" That's my dad for ya." Ruby said.

Taiyang walked back into the room with a tray of Ruby's favorite cookies and a cup of tea for Weiss, and they talked things over for a while. While they sat around talking, Xavier and Ozpin's inner circle were meeting to revive someone who had been powerless after what happened to them...

Beacon Academy Vault

9:05 am

Below the surface of Beacon Academy's grounds laid the Vault, a place where the greatest secret that the school had lain inside its walls. It housed a comatose Amber, who had lost a portion of her powers as the Fall maiden when she suffered an attack by Cinder and her compatriots. Outside her cryo pod stood Ozpin, Goodwitch, Qrow, and Ironwood, waiting for Xavier to return the power that was stolen from her...

" Are you ready?" Ozpin asked Xavier.

" Yes, do it." Xavier responded.

Ozpin opened Amber's pod open, in which Xavier proceeded to raise his cross towards her, causing her stolen power to return to her body. Amber opened her eyes, even felt fatigued after being comatose for a while...

" Ugh, my head." Amber said as Ironwood approached her.

" You alright?" Ironwood asked as he sat her up.

" Where are we?" Amber asked.

" The vault underneath Beacon, you were comatose after being attacked." Ozpin explained.

" I was attacked?" Amber said in a shocked tone.

" You really don't remember?" Goodwitch said.

" If I was attacked, Scar should have protected me." Amber said.

" Scar was assassinated before the attack that ended with a portion of your powers being stolen." Qrow explained.

" How did my powers return?" Amber asked.

" You can thank your new Sentinel." Ironwood said, introducing Xavier.

Amber looked at the tall, young teenager with an enormous shotgun/axe on his back, wearing an armored military jacket with black jeans and metal boots. She also noticed that he had a robotic right arm and an eye patch over his left eye.

" This is Xavier, he was the chosen individual to be Scar's successor." Ozpin explained.

" I may not look like much, but I am a good fighter and a skilled tactician." Xavier explained.

" He took down the woman responsible for the attack and reclaimed the power that was stolen." Goodwitch explained.

Amber stood up carefully, making her way towards Xavier and resting her hand on his shoulder before transitioning into a full scale hug...

" Thank you." Amber said.

" Anytime, kid." Xavier said.

" Qrow, can you take Amber to get something to eat, I need to talk to Xavier for a moment." Ozpin said.

" Sure, come on Amber." Qrow said, leaving the vault with Amber.

" I need to get back to my students, I'm going to be heading back to Atlas soon." Ironwood said before leaving.

" I'll go check on the progress of the repairs being done to the school." Goodwitch said, leaving Xavier alone with Ozpin.

" What did you want to talk to me about?" Xavier asked.

" What do plan to do now since you are now officially the new Sentinel of Fall?" Ozpin asked.

" Well, the reason Amber was so vulnerable was that her Sentinel was too far away from her, so I think I'll travel with her." Xavier said.

" She'll appreciate the idea." Ozpin said.

" Anyway, I have a favor to ask of you." Xavier said.

" What is it?" Ozpin inquired.

" After the battle, someone approached me with a message about something big." Xavier started.

" What was the message?" Ozpin asked.

" They said something dangerous was on its way and the fate of Remnant may hang in the balance, so can you research something for me?" Xavier asked.

" What's the topic?" Ozpin said.

" It's about something called " The Akiri"." Xavier said.

" I'll see what I can do." Ozpin responded.

After their conversation, Xavier and Ozpin exited the Vault to embrace the future that had lain ahead for their school...

" _Look out Remnant's skies, there's a new ruler in town._ " Xavier thought.

 **This concludes the story itself, but it officially doesn't stop here. This chapter simply marks the fall of Cinder, as she suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Xavier, who has finally become the new Sentinel of Fall after taking the form of the Sentinel itself. Ruby recovers from injuries that she had received from Cinder back home, in which she learned that Weiss is going to be spending the night there due to travel between kingdoms being on suspension in order to prevent any terrorists or collaborators in the attacks from escaping the kingdom. The next chapter is the final one, which is a series of narrations by selected individuals and the conversation between Cinder and her mystery visitor comes to a shocking end...**

 **WAIT AND SEE.**


	18. Chapter 18: Aftermath

Chapter 18: Aftermath.

 **The start of this chapter is a series of narrations by Ozpin, Yang, Weiss, Ironwood, Xavier, Blaze, Zach, Alex, Pyrrha, a white fang officer, and concludes with Ozpin again.**

( _Narration by Ozpin_ )

The Battle of Vale was the most difficult battle, but it proved the most enlightening for those who fought in it. The Vale Government signed a contract deal with Reina and the blossom club to share a joint control of the ARES defense system since the club's operators had more experience with it. Reina had managed to conceal the other branches of her organization from the Government's knowledge, but she still remained strong as the leader of the Club. Grimm attacks towards the city were drastically reduced following ARES's kinetic bombardment around Vale, but many knew that it wouldn't be enough. The physical scars of the city would heal, but the emotional scars would have a hard time fading away. Even when graduation came for the students at Beacon, the story of their role in the fighting wouldn't be forgotten...

( _Narration by Yang._ )

Following the Battle of Beacon, Yang stayed by Blake's side as she remained comatose in the hospital after the injuries her partner had received fighting Adam. When Blake had awoken, she felt relieved that her teammate and closest partner was at her side. Yang had to break the news to Blake about Adam's death, in which she was surprised Blake didn't even shed a tear at the fact that he was killed. Blake decided to tell her partner about her past in which she was once a White Fang member, in which Yang was shocked about Blake's former loyalty. But it did not deter her, as she firmly believed that her partner's former ties were behind her and wouldn't allow it to haunt her. Following their graduation from Beacon, Blake and Yang learned that following Adam's death, many members of the White Fang began to become disillusioned with the leadership that formed in the wake of it. These defectors took refuge with a group of human sympathizers known as the Liberators, who smuggled them as far as Atlas to escape the Fang. Blake unified both the Liberators and the Fang Defectors into a single organization that became known as Liberation Front, a paramilitary, pro-human/Faunus peace group that lead the fight to end the racial division of mankind and the Faunus. Nobody had paid them much attention until the Battle of Sindarion had been mentioned in cities all over. Sindarion, where the three armies, one standing under the banner of a man and a wolf, one under an angel winged blade, faced down against an army that followed a decaying banner.

( _Narration by Weiss._ )

Following the Battle of Beacon, Weiss felt relieved knowing that Ruby had survived the injuries she had received from Cinder's arrow. She stayed the night at Patch with Ruby and her father, and continued her time at Beacon all the way to graduation. Following graduation, Weiss was set to take control of the Schnee Dust Company from her father due to him being diagnosed with an illness that he felt could impede his chances at leading the company. He transferred control to Weiss, then proceeded to enter the hospital for treatment, leaving the company in her care. Weiss actually lead the company towards a brighter path, but she didn't alone as she began a relationship with Ruby, and those two carved a legacy of their own, without anyone controlling them. They lived their lives, until they were called to arms once again...

( _Narration by Ironwood._ )

Following the Battle of Vale, Ironwood remained in Vale for awhile to aid in the peacekeeping efforts while the Construction efforts were underway. He soon returned to Atlas, but faced scrutiny for the number of casualties that the Aletian army had suffered during the battle. The council questioned whether or not Ironwood was an effective leader as they thought, but their claims were silenced as every student of the Huntsmen academy stood up for their headmaster in his defense. He then began to issue reforms to his school's post graduation polices, offering the students the option of joining the military or pursuing careers as independent huntsmen or huntresses. This irked the Council, and when they demanded Ironwood reverse his reforms, his response...

" Frankly, I think they're better off independent than serving bureaucrats like you."

( _Narration by Xavier._ )

Following the Battle of Vale, Xavier began to adjust to the fact he had become the new Sentinel of Fall in place of Scar, his predecessor. He was allowed to continue his time at Beacon so he could graduate, in which he traveled the world with Amber, who had recovered from her injuries, leaving the Knights-Templar in the custody of Ashlyn and Jupiter and their third form, Furiosa. Rumors began to circulate about the possibility of the two entering a romantic relationship, but the two didn't pay much mind to them. They returned only to aid Liberation Front in their war against the White Fang Remnants, who grew desperate in their attempts to ensure the survival of the vision that Adam Taurus had. Xavier reclaimed control of the Templars, leading them to war, under the banner of the angel winged blade.

( _Narration by Blaze._ )

Following the battle of Vale and his graduation from Beacon alongside his teammates, Blaze stayed in Vale for awhile alongside his brother. He had grown accustomed to the new world that they were living in after being brought to by the means of the Breach. He was the only known shadow warrior in Vale, so he researched the shadow warriors in order to better comprehend his abilities so he could master them. He learned the shadow warriors were uniquely gifted, forging their own elite order out of the ashes. They combated Grimm for generations, until they were eradicated by the governments of the other kingdoms after being held responsible for the deaths of millions of innocent people. One day, he witnessed a young girl use shadow abilities to fend off men who were pursuing her but he knew that her abilities had recently developed since she was scared by her first time using them. He decided to take the girl in, becoming her teacher, in which over time he began to teach more shadow-touched children how to master and control their abilities. He was given a structure that he had remade into a dojo, in which he began taking in students with shadow abilities and remolding them into skilled fighters. He lived his life as a Sensei for the students for a time, until word of a great evil approaching Remnant reached his ears...

( _Narration by Zach._ )

Following the Battle of Vale and his graduation from Beacon Academy, Zach took up jobs as a huntsman for a while with his brother Blaze until Blaze took up a job as a teacher for young people with shadow abilities similar to his. Zach eventually joined a partnership with the local owner of the club _The Golden Dragon,_ until he became full owner since the previous had to flee Vale to avoid paying off gambling debts. Zach eventually took up a dual job, managing the club while operating a side business of supplying intelligence to traveling huntsmen and huntresses. He had a simple life until one day, his club suffered an attack by strange entity known as the Viviani, which provoked him to take up _Maddening Strife_ once again...

This time, it had found a way to make him angry.

( _Narration by Alex._ )

After graduating from Beacon, Alex was invited by Kayla to be part of her music tour around the Kingdoms to raise funds for the organizations that defend cities from Grimm attacks. They traveled all across Remnant, amazing many people with their own unique style of music which was a combination of Kayla's violin style and Alex's skill with a guitar. This attracted a lot of attention from big record producing companies, in which brought the young couple a lot of money. For a time, they had actually lived a quite peaceful life, until they were attacked by the Viviani during a live concert, in which Alex was not gonna let that slide.

( _Narration by Pyrrha._ )

Following Graduation, Pyrrha and her teammates stayed together as a professional huntsman and huntress team. She even began a relationship with Jaune, and they carved a name for Team JNPR that became well known in Remnant. But, One day, the team faced off against a large Grimm in a fight that took everything that the kids had to take it down. As the smoke cleared, it was discovered that Ren had been knocked unconscious and injured greatly in the fight. While he was hospitalized, word had reached the children that The Akiri, the very first of the Grimm, had invaded their world and their old friends were calling for aid in stopping it. Given no other choice, Pyrrha and Jaune returned to Vale, leaving Nora and Ren under the protection of their closest friend and fellow huntsman, Oliver Dryden.

( _Narration by an unknown White Fang officer._ )

Following their humiliating defeat at Beacon a year ago, The White Fang had retreated into shadow in order to evade the authorities. With their leader dead, the terrorist organization was now divided on the direction it should proceed in. Half believed that they should continue to pursue the vision that Adam had set for the soldiers of the cause, while others believed that his vision should be abandoned so the Fang could re-construct their reputation in the world. This lead to a conflict that ended with the ones who sought to abandon Adam's vision being forced to flee as the Fang hunted them in order to silence their resistance, but they were saved by the Liberators, a group of human sympathizers that pitied the running Faunus. The defectors hid from their former comrades, until they followed a new banner, a banner that was held by Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long, which inspired the group to unify and fight against their former comrades in the form of Liberation Front. They were paid no mind until the war of Sindarion was heard...

( _Narration by Ozpin_ )

Even though the Breach separated four boys from their homes, they found a new home in Remnant. They created a legacy of their own, a legacy that spoke of four young men that journeyed from beyond the borders of the world, who rose up from the ashes and became legendary warriors who toppled a usurper and her allies and saved humanity from its darkest time. They showed the world that strength doesn't require numbers or just strength to be heroes, it requires a stout heart and the courage to fight for what you believe in.

The Shattered Doll Basement

4:50 pm

" What became of the Sackett brothers?" The Girl asked.

" One became a teacher while the other took over a nightclub." Cinder said.

" I see, well thank you for your time." The girl said, getting ready to walk away.

" Wait." Cinder said.

" Yes?" The girl said.

" Why are the Sackett boys so interesting to you?" Cinder inquired.

" Because ( _pulling back her hood._ ) they're my kid brothers." The girl said.

Cinder was amazed at the fact that she was in fact speaking with Kiera Sackett, Blaze and Zach's older sister...

" Why are you so focused to find them?" Cinder asked.

" Something big is on its way here, something dangerous." Kiera said.

" How dangerous?" Cinder asked, now starting to sound concerned.

" Dangerous enough to bring the end of reality itself." Kiera said in a stern tone. " So I've got a question to ask you." She said.

" What is it?" Cinder said.

" When it gets here, will you stand against it? Or will you aid it in leading this world and my own to their bitter end?" Kiera said before walking away.

She left Cinder to ponder the question she asked her, while she exited the basement and bar that it was a part of. But, during her exit, something about her had seemed off, because while she walked along to the doors, her irises glowed a dark shade of purple, symbolizing that was possessing a power that no living thing has ever been able to possess in a thousand years...

 **This is the final conclusion of Templar and Shadow, ladies and Gentlemen. But this is not the end to the story, as towards the end hints were given to the possibility of a sequel, in which I shall tell you those hints are true. In the sequel, Team XBAZ shall reunite and rally their friends to work with Kiera in order to stop the Akiri, the very first Grimm, after it escaped its prison in the dark reaches of the void between realities from invading Remnant, while Dante and Anna race to rally the other Guardians in order to stop the Akiri's invasion of Earth. The Sequel will also include two new enemies: The Viviani, a Grimm that takes the appearance of a human-sized porcelain doll, and The First Born, a Grimm Knight sent by the Akiri to Earth in order to kill the Guardians before they can unlock their true powers. But these heroes won't be doing this alone, as the very civilization to challenge the Akiri return to aid them in their fight. The Ultimate Battle of Two Worlds is about to begin, and it will leave you on the edge of your seat...**

 **COMING SOON: RWBY: DARKEN THE SKY**


End file.
